Balloon People, The - Part 2

 The Balloon People – Part 2                                                                  

                                                                                                           V

   

       I awoke to the sound of wind and rain, and in my still half asleep state I was thinking that being out on an open beach was no place to be with the intensity of the sounds. I was thinking that the wind was sure to blow the small shelter of my propped up boat away very quickly. But as I struggled more to consciousness I realized that I was barely feeling any of the wind I was hearing, and reaching out I felt no rain on my arm in spite of the sound of it. This realization helped to bring me more out of the very deep sleep I must have been in, and I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the underside of a high thatched roof. The lighting was dim, and as my eyes adjusted I could see through window openings near me that it was a gray and rainy day outside the structure I found myself in. Several candles burned near me, and as I began to sit up I saw a woman get up from nearby and come towards me.

     This caused me to close my eyes and shake my head vigorously from side to side to clear it, as the woman now at my side was the fattest woman I had ever seen. I suddenly remembered the last things that had happened before this moment, and looking around me, I realized that I was obviously no longer on the beach where I had last been having a conversation with Jeremy Brandon. I remembered thinking that Jeremy was quite fat by my western standards, but this woman was clearly bigger than he was. The first and most obvious thing that was most mind blowing to me were her enormous breasts. She was wearing a skirt like dress that had suspender like straps that came up from the waist, and crossed between her huge breasts and looped over her shoulders. Nothing covered those magnificent tits, and they stuck straight out from her chest with no support at all. In spite of my befuddled mental state at that moment, other parts of my anatomy were reacting to this view. I shook my head again in an effort to further clear my mind.

     The woman saw my staring and smiled at me. Then I did a mental zoom out of the scene and looked at her more completely. She had long, lustrous, dark hair and equally dark eyes, and a beautiful smile. In her hand she held a cup and offered it to me.

     “You must be thirsty by now,” she said.

     I took the cup, and after realizing that it was just water, I drank gratefully.

     “I know you must have many questions,” she said then.

     I nodded at this, still sipping from the cup.

     “I can tell you that the decision was made to bring you here only after you indicated to Jeremy that you were prepared to see about how life was here on this island, and that we decided to bring you here as we did because we knew of this storm that was coming, and it would not have been good to leave you where you were for a storm like this. These long and intense storms come up during this season of the year, and we thought you would be safer here once you decided to not remain on the beach.”

     Now that my head was clearing more rapidly I was able to appreciate the simple honesty of her words, and now as I sipped at the water I looked around at my surroundings. I was in a large hut of sorts, the window openings were of normal size, and I looked out to see that the roofing had low eaves to provide an awning like effect over the windows and door opening which was easily six feet wide, but covered with a drape like hanging to keep out the wind and rain. Remembering the size of Jeremy Brandon and looking at the woman before me, suddenly the width of the doorway didn’t surprise me. I now took more time to look more carefully at her. She had a beautiful face and an enormous body, for a moment I thought that she could be a major attraction in a circus. At first the size of her massive breasts had caught all my attention, but now I saw that beneath her breasts she had a huge round belly that easily would have supported her breasts had they not stuck straight out from her chest by themselves. With curiosity I noticed that she had a very short neck, and both her arms and legs seemed to be foreshortened, with her upper arms and legs seeming to be almost half their length as though they were absorbed into her body. In spite of this and her size, she seemed to move with no difficulty as she took my cup and waddled over to refill it from a small barrel against the wall. As she turned I saw that her roundness went all the way around, although she had a massive womanly ass that had a shape of its own in spite of her body’s generally round shape.

     “I am Bimma, daughter of Kubar,” she told me then as she gave me a second cup of water. “We thought it would not be good for you to wake up alone in these unfamiliar surroundings.”

     “For that I am appreciative,” I responded, “my name is Steven Flinton, and I am happy to meet you Bimma.”

     She smiled at me again, and I was again struck by how very attractive she was in spite of her enormous size.

     “So how long have I been asleep?” I asked then as I suddenly noticed that nature was making a very urgent call.

     “This evening will mark the third evening since you were brought here,” she responded very matter of factly.

     Three days!!! My brain was now fully awake, and I was on my feet. Bimma smiled again and guided me to a back door of the hut. She drew back the drape and pointed to a small structure by itself away from many other nearby huts I now noticed. I didn’t need any further direction, and went out into the rain to visit the small structure of obvious purpose.

     On my return, Bimma offered me a towel, and I noticed that there were three newcomers in the hut. As I dried off from the rain, Jeremy Brandon stepped forward.

     “Good to see you awake Mr. Flinton, we never know how long someone is going to sleep when they first come here, but it did allow us to get you here with a minimum of difficulty,” he said to me. “Allow me to introduce you to Kubar, he is the father of Bimma who has been looking after you, and also the village shaman, and this other gentleman is Numassa the village chief.”

     I nodded at the two new men in my acquaintance while I tried to sort out in my head if my eyes were playing tricks on me, Jeremy Brandon looked bigger than I remembered him on the beach now three evenings ago. The other two men were equally massive, and like Bimma, their arms and legs were foreshortened halfway down their upper portions. Surprisingly, they were actually larger than Bimma, and had breast development to rival any silicon enhanced stripper I had ever seen where I came from. Even so, as a female, Bimma’s boobs were much bigger. As a biochemist I knew there were hormonal conditions that would make men’s breasts enlarge, so I had to wonder if that was endemic to this island. If so, it was likely that it was part of what made everyone I had seen so far such large people. I guessed that this was one of the many questions I would have to find answers to as I went along, since Jeremy had told me that I was effectively stuck here for a while.

     The man who identified himself as the village chief now stepped forward and offered his hand to me. “We are honored to welcome you here to the western village,” he said, “and as the chief I would invite you to dinner at my home this evening.”

     Just noticing now that I was very hungry after 3 days of sleeping I smiled and shook his hand. “I would be honored to join you for dinner,” I responded, wondering what the local diet must be like. It obviously wasn’t lacking in calories judging by what I had seen so far. I looked out the window then to see if anyone was visible, but while I saw many structures, some with lighting inside, the heavy rain was keeping everyone inside.

     The shaman, Kubar, saw me looking and seemed to read my mind. “This is the rainy season,” he said, “the storms sweep in and it can rain for several days at a time. We are able to predict their arrival, but it is difficult to know how long they will last. Since we knew this one was coming it is good that you decided to embrace life here when you did. It would have been very unpleasant for you were you still on the beach.”

     “I guess then I should say thank you for your foresight. Jeremy told me that all newcomers are offered entry into life here. Has anyone ever refused?”

     Numassa gave a short laugh. “It has been known to happen in the history of this place, but in the end, due to our isolation here, it became a necessity if you want to live comfortably here, and there is no memory of anyone ever regretting it. Some have even left, but all have returned.”

     “There is something to be said for the quality of life here,” put in Jeremy.

     “Well, no one here looks under fed from what I have seen so far,” I responded.

     Bimma and the three men suddenly laughed out loud at that statement.

     “You are certainly correct in that no one goes hungry here, but there is much you will yet learn about life here. As Jeremy has probably told you already, adjusting yourself to living in our culture is going to require that you have a very open mind,” Numassa told me once he got his amusement under control. “I will send for you soon when we have made ready dinner.”

     With that Numassa and Kubar left the hut and I watched them waddle off through the rain.

     Jeremy then sat down on the wide bench next to where Bimma was sitting.

     “So what would you like to ask first? I can answer some questions now, but some you should probably save until you have seen things here first, as some answers will be quite apparent on your observation,” he said.

     I thought that one over for a moment as I sat down on the pontoon of my boat in the middle of the room and looked at my watch. It seemed to have stopped, so this instigated my first question: “You said it was noticed when I first arrived here, and I know I have been sleeping a lot, so I have lost track of time. The computer in my portable lab here can tell me this, but do you know how long I have been here by now?”

     “Very good question,” Jeremy answered, “and yes, you have been here two weeks today.”

     TWO WEEKS! My mind ran over the events since my arrival here, and I could not account for the passage of two weeks.

     “The excessive sleeping you have been experiencing is the result of your body’s adjustments to the native foods here which you began eating shortly following your arrival.”

     Turning that one over in my mind I wasn’t surprised. As a biochemist I knew that the body often had unusual reactions to the introduction of changes in what was normal for it. This seemed a bit extreme, but I had been through some serious events since I had left my old life behind. As I was thinking my eyes had once again moved back to Bimma’s enormous boobs, and she smiled suddenly as she saw me staring. I jerked my eyes away as she laughed suddenly, and Jeremy laughed as he caught what had happened.

     “Yes, they are quite spectacular, aren’t they?” he asked with a grin on his face. “But you will find that there is much to gawk at here in that regard, so the novelty will probably wear off before too long. It is probably good that this storm came in when it did as it limits your exposure to people too quickly. I was the victim of quite a bit of sensory overload when I first came here. Consider it to be just another aspect of adjusting to your new life.”

     While I was thinking that one over Bimma came over to me with a towel and a bar of what turned out to be soap. “While it is still raining you may want to wash up outside before you are a guest at the table of Numassa,” she told me then.

     In spite of the rain, it was still warm enough that this seemed like a good idea, so I stepped out the back once again, draped the towel over a sheltered window ledge, and stripped down. I hadn’t actually had anything like a real shower with soap in weeks, so it actually felt quite good. As I was drying off under the eave I noticed that the clothes I had been wearing actually smelled pretty rank, so I thought about how I could clean them up since my supply of clean clothing was very limited. I was thinking on this as I wrapped the towel around myself and went back in.

     Bimma was waiting for me and must have guessed my thoughts as she handed me a one piece garment that I realized was like the one she and everyone I had seen so far was wearing. It was a fuzzy sort of material, quite soft, and very stretchy. It was actually a skirt like thing with a wide strap running front to back through the crotch, and very stretchy shoulder straps. Mine was a medium brown color, while Bimma’s was a bright red, and Jeremy’s was light blue.

     “These are a very practical sort of dress here,” she told me, “we do of course have other clothes for special occasions, but since it is always warm here, these work best for everyday wear.”

     Slipping into it was easy enough, and it did have a comfortable feel against my skin. I was surprised at how elastic the material was as I stretched the shoulder straps over my head to cross them across my chest and back. Bimma looked me over for a moment and nodded her approval. The rain had by then slowed to a drizzle, and she and Jeremy led me through the doorway and across the compound. I looked around me as we walked barefoot and saw that all the various structures were built very large, and all had the very wide doorways. The few people we saw were all equally as large or larger than Jeremy and Bimma,(were there no normal sized people here?), and they looked curiously at me as we passed. This gave me more to think about as we walked, but decided to follow Jeremy’s advice about observing life here before I asked more questions.

     We arrived at the home of Numassa a moment later and were ushered in by a woman that introduced herself as the wife of Numassa. By now I didn’t stare at the huge breasts that seemed to precede the woman as she stepped forward and took my hand. She had a cheery smile and introduced herself as Lisha, and pulled me inside telling me how pleased and honored she was to have me to come and eat at the table of her family for my first meal in the village. I was a bit taken aback by the effusiveness of her greeting, and it must have showed.

     “Please understand Steven,” said Jeremy then, “hospitality is a very big part of the culture here. Try to relax. There is very little to want for here, and the people are quite naturally very generous by nature. By coming here and having your first meal here you are giving a great honor. I know, since I was the honored guest 12 years ago. I know that coming from a similar world as you that it is hard to give up on caution when meeting new people, but be assured that no one here has any ulterior motives about them other than to make you feel welcome.”

     Again I had to consider the words before I did then relax a bit and smiled at the wife of the chief. “Thank you for the kind invitation to allow me to eat with your family,” I told her. Like everyone else I had encountered, the wife of Numassa was huge and round, and her bare breasts thrust proudly out from her chest, easily the size of volleyballs, riding atop her immense belly. She pulled me further into the house toward the back where Numassa sat at a large table with a number of other equally large people.

     Numassa rose and took my hand and guided me to a seat next to him, and Bimma seated herself next to me on the other side. “Welcome to my home and my table,” he said then.

     “Thank you,” I responded.

     Jeremy had seated himself across from me, next to another woman he introduced as his wife Shara, and introduced two others as Yuri, and his wife Bincy who was clearly the largest person at the table. She laughed and shook my hand and told me that she had enjoyed being part of the team that had brought me here. This made me wonder just how that had happened as I remembered my explorations then, and remembered also that it seemed that penetrating deeper into the island seemed almost impossible to me at the time. More questions for later I decided. Several children then came in and seated themselves at the table laughing and talking. Unlike everyone else however, the children were of normal size. I thought that maybe things weren’t so unusual at that moment. Kubar arrived a moment later, and introduced me to his wife Urshi who, like all the women was massively busty, but by now I wasn’t finding myself so inclined to gawk. Bimma next to me giggled a bit and squeezed my hand almost like she knew what I was thinking.

     Numassa poured out drink for all the adults, and toasted me, the newest arrival to the village. It was a variant of the alcoholic drink that Jeremy had given me on the beach, not quite so sweet, but the presence of the alcohol in it was more obvious. It warmed all the way down my throat, and I found myself relaxing more. Lisha then brought in steaming bowls and set them before everyone. The bowls contained a type of fish stew with some vegetables I recognized, and some I didn’t, but it was seasoned well, and very tasty. I must have been hungrier than I had thought as I ate 4 bowls, and this seemed to make Lisha very happy.

     “You must regain your strength after all you have been through,” she told me happily.

     After the dinner I was called on to tell of my life before I came here, and the circumstances that had brought me here, which took me a while. Everyone was very curious about my specialty of employment and with some help from Jeremy I explained about being a biochemist, and about my portable analysis lab. The idea that so much could be learned by studying the chemical differences between people was very interesting to them. I found it surprising that it all seemed to make so much sense to them and said so.

     Again, Jeremy felt inclined to answer to this.

     “Steven, you have to understand that the people here don’t live in a vacuum. We do have contact with the outside world, but it is a mitigated contact. Everyone here knows how to read and write, and we teach our children the basic skills all children learn in school. We also have many others on this island that came from the outside world and brought knowledge with them. We even do some trading with a few ships that come rarely, but they do come. We have books, and we even have electricity in some places courtesy of trading for solar panels. Whenever someone new like yourself comes, especially with some advanced scientific knowledge, they become a new source of information for us, as you now are.”

     By now I was feeling quite relaxed full of food and drink, and what he said made perfect sense to me. So I smiled and apologized for being presumptuous. Kubar laughed at that.

     “No worries,” he said, “we have to remember too that when someone new comes it takes a bit of adjustment for us as well. Obviously we have ways and a life here that is very different than anything anywhere else in the world. Every time we hear more stories of the world outside it makes us appreciate our lives here even more. Tomorrow we will talk more. By then you will have your thoughts more clear so we can answer your questions which you surely have.”

     I nodded at this as a huge yawn came out of me.

     “You need to sleep again,” Bimma told me, “soon your body will be adjusted to life here and this being tired so much will fade.”

     “Does this happen to everybody?” I asked.

     “To us new arrivals it does,” responded Jeremy. “During my first month here I probably slept away over two weeks. Natives obviously become acclimated to life here from birth.”

     I nodded at this, yawning again. Bimma took my arm and led me out. We didn’t seem to be going in the right direction, and when I said this she told me I was to stay tonight in her family’s home.

     “Your small boat was fine for the time it was needful for you to sleep in, but that need is past and you should sleep more comfortably at my home,” she said as we entered yet another very large hut like structure. She showed me to a room where there hung a hammock large enough to hold three or four people. She gave me a pillow and a blanket and helped me settle in, and with a quick kiss on my cheek and a smile she left the room.

 

     Bimma walked to the back of the house where Kubar and Urshi now were relaxing with another cup of the liquor served at the dinner. Kubar looked up at her as she entered.

    “He is asleep?” he asked.

     Bimma nodded. “I am very surprised though, he must have so many questions, and yet he seems to just be observing and taking everything he sees at face value.”

     “Perhaps his very scientific mind is in some form of denial about his observations,” Urshi suggested. “It is very obvious that we people here are quite unusual.”

      “He has no idea yet just how unusual,” said Bimma with a smile.

      “He will surely sleep for another two or three days this time,” said Kubar. “I must talk to Jeremy and some others about how to approach explaining what is going to happen to him. He could be a great asset here, but he must accept the changes that are happening to him as he really has no choice now. But perhaps Jeremy can discuss it with some others that have come here with medical knowledge and present it to him in a way he can accept more easily. It is good that you are looking after him Bimma.”

     “It is no trouble father. Actually I think I rather like him,” Bimma said with a smile.

     “That is nice dear,” said Urshi then, “we may not have to marry you off to another village after all.”

     Bimma blushed and laughed feeling herself involuntarily begin to enlarge. “I think I shall sleep in the upper level tonight,” she announced.

     “Probably a good idea dear. Such thoughts as you are having seem to be affecting your self control,” Urshi said with a smile.

     Without another word Bimma waddled to the next room that had no ceiling and closed her eyes. Seeming to take a deep breath she began to enlarge bigger and rounder. Her arms and legs further disappeared into the growing roundness of her body. Her breasts grew ever more round and enormous, as did her gigantic ass. Slowly she felt the weight of her feet on the floor diminish, and after another moment her feet left the floor as she drifted upward into the upper level of the house. No furnishings were present up here. Only soft mats on the floor for when one descended while sleeping, and some ropes strung up high to help one maneuver into a good spot for sleeping. She often had wondered why people lost their pressure and descended while sleeping. It was rare to actually stay aloft for an entire sleep, but as she pulled herself over to a spot in the middle of the room she inflated herself yet more so maybe she would wake up still in the air. It was considered a good sign when that happened she thought with a smile as she fell asleep herself.

      Kubar watched his youngest daughter as she left the room and looked over at his wife. Urshi met his gaze steadily and she said: “Yes?”

      “Being a bit suggestive with Bimma, don’t you think?”

      “I didn’t think so,” Urshi replied. “Only pointing out that I am aware that she finds our new arrival interesting.”

 

 

                                                              

 

 

 

                                                                                                                        VI

 

     The rain stopped during the night, and the morning was bright and sunny. In the house of Kubar Steven Flinton continued to sleep in spite of the light coming in the window opening. Bimma had awakened happily noting that while she was now no longer against the ceiling of the sleeping room, she was still buoyant enough in the air that she was still drifting in the large sleeping space and had not awakened on the sleeping mats. She made a conscious effort to slowly release a bit more gas from her body as she rolled a bit in the air to grab a hanging rope to pull herself  over to the opening in the floor. She released more of her internal pressure and slowly descended to the floor below.

     Urshi was awake below in the kitchen area and a pot of tea sat on the iron stove with a small fire going within. She looked up as Bimma came in and poured her a cup of tea.

     “ I thought you might sleep all day daughter,” she said with a smile.

     “Did I sleep so long then?” asked Bimma looking out the window to get a sense of time.

     “Not so very late, but you have been awake early often lately.”

     “I guess I was feeling more comfortable to be sleeping home again, and it helped knowing that Steven was sleeping here instead of in the communal storage hut.”

     “I have already looked in on him for you,” Urshi said then, “and he is deep in his sleep of change. I expect he will sleep at least another day or two. I remember when Jeremy arrived, he also slept so long.”

     “Where is father?” Bimma asked then.

     “He went to find Jeremy. They are going to Sky village to talk to two others from the outer world that now make their home there. One was a doctor so your father thought that maybe he might be able to help Jeremy explain the phenomenon of why we are so different here. The winds are favorable so he didn’t want to waste time on it.”

     Bimma nodded at that as she sipped her tea. Sky village was the one village on the island that was at a higher elevation than their own West village, and one of the two that by virtue of its location never had to welcome newcomers for being located nearer to the center of the island. The arrivals her mother spoke of must have found themselves at Sky village through marriage since family ties were the most common reason for people to move from one village to another. Marriage from one village to another was often a reason to improve ties between different communities. As the daughter of the West village shaman Bimma was well aware of the politics that could influence her own choices of a future mate. Being as she was also a very beautiful woman also had made her the subject of much attention when she had gone to other villages on occasion. At the same time it bothered her that she seldom saw any of her three older sisters because of such marriages.

     “Are the winds favorable for them to fly there?” she asked then.

     “It seems so this morning, but Kubar was uncertain if the winds would take them all the way,” her mother responded, “if you are feeling restless there are some transports being prepared. Bincy said something last night about wanting to be one of the balloons for the goods we are sending to Lagoon village.”

     “Knowing Bincy that is probably a heavy load so she can get a big as possible,” Bimma said with a chuckle. “But I think I am going to stay around to keep an eye on Steven.”

     “So it is Steven now is it?” asked her mother with a smile.

     “Well I don’t think he would mind me calling him by his first name,” came back Bimma blushing again.

     “So you think maybe you like this new arrival so much so quickly?” asked Urshi then.

     “I think he is different enough from the men I have met so far to be more interesting, and he is not so arrogant as some of the men I have been introduced to in some of the other villages,” said Bimma. “But don’t worry too much yet mother, I think I have to see how well he is able to take to life here, but any incentive he may need to help him I plan on offering it.”

     “Well you do have some impressive incentives about you,” said her mother then as she gave one of Bimma’s huge breasts a squeeze as she stepped around her daughter.

      A stifled laugh escaped Bimma then as she tried not to spray a mouthful of tea on the floor.

      Urshi laughed out loud at that.

      In the other room Steven Flinton slept on deeply, unaware of the changes that were occurring in his body.

      Miles away and several hundred feet in the air Jeremy and Kubar, both well inflated and tethered together by a line tied to each of their arms, were being carried on the wind toward the middle of the island where several very eroded volcanic mountains merged together. In the flattened area hundreds of feet further up were the fertile areas where Sky village was located.

     “We may get lucky and get carried close enough that they may see us,” called Kubar.

      Jeremy nodded at this. The wind was carrying them along at maybe 10 miles an hour he guessed, and he was just enjoying floating along for now. If it turned out that they actually might get carried over Sky village, then the people there would make provision for them. It sometimes got tricky here however, as inflating more to get the altitude needed to get up to the village also put one at the mercy of the often stronger winds the higher you got. But for now it seemed that the winds were favoring them. The view from up here was wonderful he thought, and he actually didn’t mind that the wind was tending to spin them a bit. To the south he could just make out Lagoon village. It was a fine day for a flight he thought.

     All too soon however, they realized that they were going to be carried south of the peaks of Sky village, and so regretfully they began to deflate in an effort to come down as close as possible to the base of the volcanic mountains. As they descended Jeremy looked back toward West village and saw the transport that he knew was bound for Lagoon village rising up in the air miles behind them. The winds were going to be almost perfect for where they were going today he thought, although the transport platforms wouldn’t move as fast, so likely they were going to get a much longer flight than he and Kubar got to enjoy. He wondered briefly as they lost more altitude if Bincy got her wish for a heavy transport since she loved getting herself as big as she could.

     They came down in the open perimeter at the south of the mountains base, and walked the distance around until they came to an open area with an almost sheer cliff face reaching up toward the sky. From somewhere above there hung stout ropes which they tied to themselves, and then began to re-inflate slowly to rise up the cliff. Although it had become quite natural for him by now, Jeremy still wondered about this ability to inflate himself at will with no need for external help. He knew he could blow himself up mostly with air simply by an act that began with a very deep breath, but being able to willfully become inflated with lighter than air gas was a riddle about this ability that he had not been able to come up with a good explanation for. He hoped one or both of the men they were coming to see might have had some thoughts on it since he had seen them last. Steven Flinton was likely to start searching for his own answers if they weren’t able to answer some of his questions.

     Going carefully up the cliff face with the help of the guide ropes seemed to take forever, but as they neared the top they saw several faces looking down at them from the top. In a moment they felt the ropes tighten and they were pulled up much more quickly than the progress they had been making. Shortly they were pulled up over the edge and pulled down to the much higher ground by several men. Kubar and Jeremy exchanged greetings with the men as they again gave up the gas that made them buoyant in the air.

     “So Kubar, what brings the shaman of West village to make the trip here?” inquired one of the men.

     “We have a new arrival in our village,” responded Kubar, “and before the changes that are happening to him are complete we needed to speak to James Linton and Michael Granger, as we hoped that they might be able to give us some insights that may help us to make his adjustment easier. He is a scientist, and so is likely to have a lot of questions that they may have better answers for than we do.”

     The men nodded at this, and led them down a path toward Sky village. Jeremy had only been to Sky village once before, and then it was as part of a transport team. The fertile volcanic soil here and the lack of small nuisance animals made Sky village the agricultural center of the island. All villages had gardens, but here growing vegetables was refined to an art form. Jeremy looked out on well planted areas that created the primary coin for trade from here.

      The men led Kubar and Jeremy to the house of Dalmar, the shaman of Sky village as it was an expected courtesy for such equals to exchange greetings and purpose first.

      Dalmar greeted them happily, and ushered them into his home where they settled onto benches while his wife poured tea for them.

      He listened attentively as Kubar introduced Jeremy and explained the reason for their visit, and after a moment called his son from the back of the house, and sent him to find the men they wanted.

     “So you will take dinner with us and spend the night,” said Dalmar. “The winds will not shift to the west before tomorrow I can assure you.”

      “We would be pleased and honored,” answered Kubar.

     Shortly after the two men arrived at the home of Dalmar. Jeremy had met James Linton before, and remembered that he was an American that had been a doctor before his arrival here, and had heard that he had come here to Sky village because of an injured child. While here he had met and married one of the daughters of the village chief, and so now made his home here. Michael Granger he knew only as a name mentioned to him as he was another arrival from the world outside. He shook hands with the two and they sat down to tea.

     “So Dr. Linton, how is life here at Sky treating you?” inquired Jeremy.

     James Linton laughed at that. “I expect living anywhere on this island would add years to one’s life just due to the low stress level, but since I married Tooma I can honestly say that life has never been better.”

      Kubar then explained to the men why they had come to see them, and the nature of their new arrival, and the likely need for better explanations than they had.

     “It is true that myself and James have discussed this at length,” Michael Granger began, “but while we are  somewhat comfortable with what we believe to be the cause of this unusual adaptation, we have no means of proving it.”

     “Yes, this is true,” said James then, “and what sort of scientist is this Flinton fellow?”

     “He is a biochemist,” answered Jeremy, “and it might interest you to know that he washed up on our western shore with a portable computerized biochemical analysis unit that seems to have survived the trauma of arriving here in a storm.”

      Granger and Linton suddenly exchanged a look of surprise, and the excitement on their faces was obvious.

      “This fellow and his specialty and equipment may be just what we need to prove or disprove our theory,” James said excitedly while Michael nodded in agreement.

      “As a biologist this peculiarity has been of particular curiosity to me,” Michael said then. “And while we all learned the dogma that explains the when and why the people here gained this power of self-inflation, it is such an amazing adaptation that the how has been nagging me since I became a balloon myself.”

      Jeremy and Kubar talked long into the afternoon and evening with Dalmar, Linton, and Granger, and arrangements were made for them to come to West village in several weeks. Kubar thought it wise to wait for Steven Flinton to finish the process that was happening to him, and to become acquainted with the central reality of life here before they met. The caveat of meeting them and being part of helping them understand it might well ease any misgivings he might have. It also crossed his mind that having Bimma take an interest in him as she had might do even more to help the process. He smiled to himself at this thought. Bimma was his youngest daughter, and the idea of marrying her off to the son of a chief of another village did not sit well with him.

     The following morning, as Dalmar had predicted, the winds had shifted to the west, and so Kubar and Jeremy took their leave thanking Dalmar for his hospitality. They were shown to the western edge of the village and once again with a long tether joining them at an arm they inflated and rose up and away from Sky village. Of a necessity to get away from the mountain they were much higher, and so much larger this time. They kept their higher altitude as the wind carried them west. Once again Jeremy just enjoyed the feeling of drifting along in the air.

 

 

                                                                                                              VII

 

      I felt myself regaining consciousness slowly. I was aware that I was warm and comfortable, and felt a bit dizzy. I opened my eyes to see light coming in the window and remembered Bimma putting me to bed here after the dinner at the home of Numassa. I wondered how long I had been asleep this time as I became aware of bodily needs that would get me on my feet before long. I felt rather strange as I got myself sitting up, but this seemed to dissipate as my head cleared. I didn’t know if there was a closer privy, but I went for the one I knew behind the hut where I had been staying. It seemed to be around dawn as the light was still dim, but coming from the east, and I didn’t see anyone as I took my walk behind the hut where my remaining possessions were right where I remembered them.

     I returned quietly to the hammock and wondered where Bimma was. Laying back down I found her in my mind as I pulled the blanket back over me. She was a beautiful woman although enormously fat I thought. But, it seemed like everyone here was enormously fat I reminded myself. And, unless I was planning on becoming a monk, I might want to get used to the idea that any sex here was going to be with a fat woman. As I turned this over in my mind, the thought of Bimma’s gigantic tits intruded in my head then, and I found that in spite of what I thought might be attractive, some parts of me certainly were affected by those breasts, and her other supremely womanly curves.

      So what was it about here that everyone was so damned fat? I would have bet anything that Jeremy Brandon hadn’t arrived here the way he was now. Everyone seemed healthy and happy, so I thought I could rule out some disease, but there must be some very high calorie content in some of the local food to make people as big as they are here. By now I was pretty confident that the obviousness of this anomaly was part of what Jeremy had expected me to observe. I remembered that the children at Numassa’s house had appeared pretty normal for kids. Maybe it is something that starts at puberty?

      Another thought that nagged at the back of my brain was the way people here moved. In spite of their large size, and their foreshortened legs, they moved easily and quickly. I had seen very heavy people in my life, I had a very fat great aunt that had left me and my cousin her house and an inheritance, and she moved in a way that could almost be described as ponderously. Aunt Fanny could never have moved like the people here did, and these people were bigger than she was. I thought then of my cousin Laura, or Loona as she liked to be called by her alternate personality. She would have fit in here just fine being almost as fat as Aunt Fanny was. She was my closest living relative and I wondered how she was doing just now in her business as an inflatable clown doing kids parties. I had to smile to myself as I remembered her showing me her inflatable clown outfit, and helping her inflate it with helium the first time. How I laughed as she waddled around the living room looking like an enormous beach ball I thought with a smile. But, it made her happy, and she seemed to be building a nice side business out of it, so as the closest thing to a sister I had I hoped she was doing well with it, and that she wasn’t worrying about me. In fact, I wondered if anyone had reported me missing at all by now?

      At that thought, I slipped back into sleep, still thinking of my fat cousin Loona.

      When I awoke again the sunlight was lighting the room completely, and I was actually too warm under the blanket. Oddly I was still thinking of my cousin as I lay there with my eyes still closed. I would have to talk to Jeremy or Kubar about if people here ever communicated with the outside world at all by way of the infrequent visits by ships. With that thought I opened my eyes and swung into a sitting position. Bimma was sitting right in front of me and as usual my eyes went immediately to her volleyball sized breasts. She was smiling at me as I jerked my eyes up to her face.

      “So you have rejoined us again from the world of dreams,” she said with a bigger smile.

      “Actually I was up earlier to attend to my needs but decided to sleep a bit longer,” I answered.

      “Well, you must be hungry and thirsty, so let us go get something to eat,” she said taking me by the hand and leading me to an area of the house that was one big room with an area of the corner set up as a kitchen.

      Urshi was there and smiled as we entered. “So good to see you up again Mr. Flinton,” she said as she put a cup of tea before me.

      I smiled at her as I sipped my tea. “I think we can skip the Mr. Flinton formality,” I told her, “please call me Steven.”

     “Very well then, please call me Urshi,” she replied as she waddled about the kitchen fixing something near the stove which I couldn’t see due to her vast size blocking the view.

      After a moment she placed bowls of what appeared to be a hot cereal in front of Bimma and myself. A small jar on the table contained a sweet syrup unlike anything I recognized, but it went very well with the cereal. Bimma told me it was a variant of an oat like grain that grew here, and it was quite tasty.

      “So we have the day to ourselves Steven,” said Bimma then. “What would you like to do?”

      After a moment of thought I asked: “How long did I sleep this time?”

      “You have been asleep for almost four days.”

      “Which means I have been here at the village for a week, and yet I haven’t seen anything here. So I think I would like to walk around and see life here.”

      I looked over at Urshi then, and she was nodding. I noticed then what a very attractive woman she was as well, obviously Bimma had inherited her mother’s beauty.

      “I think this is a very good idea,” said Urshi then, “seeing life here will better help you to fit in as a member of the community. Of course Bimma will show you around.”

      Having Bimma nearby was becoming so natural, that a brief thought of wondering what it would be like if she weren’t around was somehow disturbing to me.

      So it was that after we finished our tea Bimma again took my hand and led me out into the village. Since all the structures were built so large to accommodate the inhabitants, I was surprised to see how much larger the village was than I had a first realized. All the homes appeared well kept and had gardens around them. I remarked on how neat and orderly all that I saw appeared.

      “Of course you must realize Steven, that there is not the pressures here you have in the world you came from. People here tend to the needs of family and friends, and in the villages there is a communal spirit. Every home you see has been built with the help of the whole village. When a new home is built there is always a celebration with many gifts as a new home or the rebuilding of an old one means the start of a new family here. Attending to the basic needs of the community comes right after seeing to the needs of one’s family. So naturally we make time to keep the surroundings nice as it benefits everyone. Beyond that we do have some occupations which yield things that enable us to trade with other villages, and even with the occasional ships that stop here.”

      That reminded me suddenly of my earlier thoughts about my cousin and if she had received any word about my not turning up where I was supposed to be.

      “How often do the ships come, and where do they come to here on the island?” I asked.

      Bimma showed some surprise at my intensity. “Ships can only come to Lagoon village or South village,” she told me, “no other points on the island are accessible, and even those places require the ships to anchor at sea and send in small boats to shore. Why is this so important to you? Do you wish to leave so soon before you see how life can be here?”

       Bimma seemed equally intense in her response, and her dark eyes were filled with concern which surprised me a bit. So I explained carefully to her about my cousin that was like my sister, and my concern about her worrying about me if word reached her that I may have been lost at sea. Bimma relaxed then, and asked me about Laura, or Loona as I explained was what she liked to be called.

      So as we walked about the village I told her about my family and how Loona and I had grown up very close, and about how we were the favorite niece and nephew of our great Aunt Fanny, and how Aunt Fanny had been such a big woman, and how Loona was a lot like her. Since Bimma was so easy to talk to I even told her about how Loona had a business as a clown dressed like a human balloon. This seemed to interest Bimma very much and she asked a lot about what Loona was like, and about her inflatable suit.

      “So you love your cousin very much,” she said then.

      “Of course, she was, or is the only close family I have, and I would like very much to get some sort of communication to her to let her know I am alright,” I answered.

      Bimma relaxed more then. “There is a way to send letters from here,” she told me, “the people in Lagoon and South villages have arrangements with a few of the ship crews that come here. It requires trading to enable it, but I believe that they pass letters to the crews for some exchange of value, and when the crews are in ports where such letters can be mailed, they do so. But, it often takes weeks or even months before such letters find their way to the people concerned.”

      “How far are these villages?” I asked.

      “We don’t think about distance as you do, so maybe you should ask Jeremy that question,” she answered, “but it depends on the travel conditions too. South village is the farther, but if conditions are right the trip can be made in hours, other times it can take days.”

      Hours to days? This seemed a bit strange to me. Even allowing for the oddity of the terrain on this volcanic island, the place wasn’t that big of a land mass. I thought that maybe getting through the more overgrown areas might take such a time, especially for such big people here, but how could a two day trip be reduced to hours?

      Bimma smiled at me. “Tell me more about your old life and your cousin Loona,” she asked.

      So we walked on about the village and I found myself telling Bimma most anything she asked. I told her about how my Aunt had left Loona and myself her house and an inheritance which I used to go back to school to finish my degree, and how Loona and I had redone the house for both of us, and made the rooms and doorways extra wide because of Loona being as large a woman as she was. I told her that part of the house was mine and that is where all of my old life that remained was, but that for the most part it was Loona’s house. Bimma was curious about Loona having a business as a clown, and this was a bit hard for me to explain. She understood about a funny outfit and making people laugh, but the idea of it being a business and something to make money from seemed very strange to her.

      “So you have been around very large women in your life?” she asked me suddenly.

      “It seems so,” I answered, “although my family is not very large, but my great Aunt and my cousin were certainly the closest family I ever had, and they both were big fat women.”

      “What did you think about your cousin and her idea with the inflatable suit?” Bimma asked me almost shyly.

      “What do you mean?” I asked.

      “Did you like the idea?”

      “Actually it surprised me when she told me about it, but Loona had a balloon fetish since she was a child. We were very close you know, so we didn’t have any secrets. But when she said she was launching a business as Balloona the clown, and said she liked being called Loona better than Laura, even I was surprised. I even helped her out in the beginning when I had time, and it seemed that she was happiest when she was wearing that inflatable suit and doing her clown act and making people laugh, so I guess I came to like what she was doing since it was making her so happy, and she was making a good business of it.”

      We had by now come to a cleared area and sat down on a wide bench at one side of it. The day was warm and sunny, and Bimma was looking at me with a strange smile on her face.

     “So what are you thinking now Bimma?” I asked.

     “I am thinking Steven, that you may adjust to life here more easily than I first thought,” she answered still with that smile on her lips.

     “How do you mean that?”

     “You said your cousin Loona was a big fat woman.”

      To this I nodded, not understanding where she was going.

     “Do you love her?” Bimma prodded.

     “Of course I love her, I told you she is like my sister,” I answered still perplexed.

      “But did you think she was an attractive woman?” Bimma pressed.

      Still a bit confused, I thought of my cousin and nodded.

      “Of course she is attractive,” I answered then, “she is smart and a good person, and yes, she is a very pretty woman, just like you are.”

      Bimma smiled more at me then.

      “Look at me Steven, you think I am pretty?”

      “Absolutely I think you are more than pretty,” I answered with no hesitation.

      “Am I as fat as your cousin?” she asked then.

      Now I did hesitate as I looked Bimma over. Her ass had to be close to four feet wide, and I suddenly realized why all the benches I had seen here were so very wide. Her fat round belly rode out over her fat thighs and as she was sitting down that belly pushed her huge tits up to her chin. She continued to look straight at me with no hint of embarrassment as I looked her over.

     “Actually you are larger than she is,” I responded after a moment.

     “As large as when she wears her special suit?” she asked.

     “No, but why is that of such an interest to you?” I was confused again.

     Bimma got up from the bench then and walked to the middle of the clearing still with that smile on her face.

      “We have been slowly explaining to you about the differences of life here,” she began, “and you are the first new arrival here that I have ever met, so I cannot really imagine what it is like for you to see our life and not be curious about the differences here. What are your thoughts so far?”

      “It seems like a friendly and peaceful place here, and I understand so far about the local attitude about wanting to keep it that way, and not be involved with the outside world if you can avoid it,” I answered.

      Bimma then gave me a frustrated look. “Are you deliberately avoiding the obvious?” she asked then. “You tell me what large fat women your aunt and cousin are, and then admit to me that I am fatter still, but are you afraid of offending me? Obviously I am huge by what you are used to, everyone here is!” she ended with some exasperation.

      “Well of course I have been wondering about the fact that everyone here seems to be so fat,” I responded, “but everyone seems healthy and happy, so while I have been curious, it didn’t seem polite to bring it up really,” I ended with a touch of embarrassment.

      Bimma walked over to me then and put her arms around me and pulled me into her massive belly and tits. “I really like you Steven, and I want you to be able to be comfortable with life here,” she told me looking right into my eyes.

      At that moment there seemed like no better idea than putting my arms around her and giving her a long kiss.

      “Now was that so hard?” she asked with a big smile.

      I stepped back from her and returned her smile. “OK, so why is everyone here so fat?” I asked.

      “Because things here have made the people here different than the rest of the world,” she said.

      Now it seemed my turn to feel some exasperation. “Different how?”

      “We are like your cousin, only I think she would want to be like us,” Bimma answered.

      Now I was confused again, and it must have showed on my face.

      Bimma laughed then and walked back to the center of the clearing. “Watch,” she said.

      I stood there with my arms folded and watched as Bimma turned to face me. She raised her arms out to her sides and looked straight at me, and seemed to be taking in a deep breath. For a moment I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but as I watched I suddenly noticed that her already ultra-large boobs and belly were expanding outward. The look on my face must have been priceless as she laughed and continued to enlarge. Her sides bulged out as she became bigger and rounder. By now she had no neck and I could just see her face between the inflating globes that were her breasts being pushed up by her belly. More surprising still was that as her legs and arms were being absorbed into her body she was actually growing taller as well.

      How was this possible? I asked myself as a moment later Bimma’s feet left the ground. She seemed to hover for a moment a foot or two off the ground, then continued to rise almost majestically up into the air. I tracked her progress as she continued upward and only then did I notice that a huge net had been spread across the tops of the trees easily over 100 feet up by my estimation, and in a moment I saw that Bimma had come to rest up against the underside of the net. Her laughter drifted down to me as I saw she was horizontal, and so could see me just fine.

      “Is this different enough for you?” she called down to me.

      I was speechless. In fact at that moment I began to question my sanity, or if I might possibly still be asleep back on that beach. This was an anomaly right out of a science fiction story I thought. An instant later it occurred to me that she had said “the people here”, and that had to mean that everyone here was like her. A lot of things seemed to start clicking into place at that moment. In as much as it defied my understanding of the world, what I was seeing, and the fact that everyone here was like this, was the only way some of the questions I had already asked myself could be answered. I looked up at Bimma again drifting a hundred or more feet above me and shook my head to clear it.

      “No Steven, you are not seeing things,” she called down.

      I really had no response at that moment, I could only stand there and look up at her.

      Bimma laughed again, and after a few minutes slowly began to descend. As I watched her size gradually lessened  as she seemed to deflate and drift slowly back to the ground. As she came down I watched as her legs gradually began to reappear from the roundness of her body. She attempted to land on her feet, but seemed not to be able to make the maneuver, and so came down on her fat round belly and boobs. She continued to become smaller to where she began trying to right herself. At that point I went over and took her arm and pulled her to her feet. She seemed much lighter than my mind told me she should be for such a large woman, and she was still smiling at me as she got on her feet.

      “Of course the gas in us does make us lighter,” she said as though reading my mind.

      Still amazed, it took me a moment to respond.

      “So everyone here goes about in a partially self-inflated state?” I asked, still incredulous.

      “Yes we do,” she responded still smiling. “It does make life more interesting at times. The gas does make us lighter, but of course the tradeoff is the size of us. But, we are well adjusted to it all, and the ability to fly as we do is very exhilarating. Come with me now, I have more to show you.”

      She took my hand again and waddled toward the opposite side of the clearing to another path. She was still larger than before, and so held my arm to steady herself more. Again I could not help by gawk at her now even larger breasts that easily exceeded the size of basketballs. Bimma seemed not to notice as we proceeded on the path which moved steadily upward. We arrived in yet another open clearing that afforded a view of the entire village from the east side. Several people were here looking up at the sky to the south.

      “Look,” said Bimma pointing.

      I looked and saw a large, strangely shaped object moving in our direction across the sky.

      “I saw this from up high in the clearing,” Bimma said then, “it will help your understanding.”

      As I watched the object coming closer it appeared to be a large rectangular shape suspended from a number of larger spherical ones. I had a suspicion at that moment, but kept quiet as I watched.

      Within minutes the object began descending as it approached where we were. As they got closer the people that were already there stepped out further into the clearing with ropes in their hands. The rectangular platform dropped lower still and the men and women there threw up the ropes with hooks on the ends to snag the platform, and then tied the ends to anchoring points in the ground. The platform lost its forward motion, and the balloons above began becoming smaller still, and the platform settled slowly to the ground.

      Once again I didn’t know what to say as I watched the balloons above the platform become smaller still and regain a somewhat human appearance. Unlike Bimma earlier, these people had been hugely inflated to lift whatever was on that platform, and I wouldn’t have believed it unless I had actually seen them return to human form as I did. One of the balloons regained her feet and noticed us. She waddled over towards us waving.

      “Hi Bimma! Hi Mr. Flinton!” she greeted us enthusiastically with a big smile.

      I recognized her then, but Bimma responded: “Hi Bincy, how was the flight?”

      “It was wonderful, the sky is so clear, and I had to get absolutely ginormous to help lift that transport,” Bincy answered happily, “we left early and even so we were up for hours. I just love flights like this was.”

      Bincy turned then and bounced away. I could not help but stare as she kicked off a bit with her feet and landed on her fat ass, and somehow tilted herself forward and quite literally bounced across the ground to the side of the clearing and down the path into the village.

      Bimma watched me staring and laughed again. “Yes, this ability of ours does have many possibilities that sometimes make up for the limitations of our size. But I will admit that Bincy seems to enjoy being a balloon more than most anyone you may meet here.”

     “How does she manage to keep control of how she bounces as she goes down that hill?” I asked still amazed as I watched Bincy bouncing 20 or 30 feet at at a time.

     “It does take practice, but obviously her size and gas in her slows her movement through the air, and if it appears to her that she is going off in a bad direction she can inflate herself quickly enough that she won’t land in a bad spot. It is something we all learn and play at a lot when we the ability first shows itself in us. Mostly the youngest of us play at bouncing, but Bincy won’t ever grow up,” Bimma finished with a laugh.

      Again I didn’t know what to say, but I thought again of my cousin Loona and Bimma’s assertion that she would like it here as Bimma again took my arm and led me down the path back the way we had come. My head was full of thoughts as we walked along.

      We returned to the clearing and again sat on the bench.

      “I know how this must be quite a shock to your mind Steven,” began Bimma, “and I know it is my fault in that I made the decision to put it in front of you this way, but I hope you are not angry with me.”

      I sat there quietly then, looking at the ground. I didn’t know quite what to say about everything that I had seen since this day had begun, so I just thought about it all for the moment. The idea of being angry with Bimma really was a non-starter, she really felt she was doing the right thing by me. The truth was that this was the nature of the world here even if I was finding it hard to wrap my mind around it, but what I had seen was in defiance of my knowledge of human physiology. Again I wondered if I wasn’t having a very weird dream, and was going to wake up somewhere else. But if what was happening to me was real, then it had not been an unpleasant experience so far; strange, yes, unpleasant, no. I looked again at Bimma who sat quietly next to me with a look of concern on her face, and realized that I did not want to hurt her feelings in any way. If she was a dream, she was the best dream I had ever had.

      So I got up then and stood in front of her. She looked up at me and still said nothing. So I leaned into her and again gave her a long kiss which she returned passionately. During that kiss yet another thought intruded into my brain: Jeremy Brandon had been like me when he arrived here, and now it seemed he was a balloon himself……………………..the kiss ended and I stepped back looking Bimma in the eyes.

      “I could not be angry with you Bimma,” I began, “but you are right that there has been a lot for me to process this day. I am feeling very good about being with you, and I hope that you are not only staying with me until I start to fit in here.”

      Bimma smiled that shy smile again. “So you would like to spend more of your time with me?” she asked.

      “Yes, I think I would like that, I think I would not feel so comfortable without you around. I think I need you near me to help me understand and work through finding my place here. Do you think Kubar would be alright with that?”

      “It was my Father’s wish that I look after you when you first arrived,” she answered slowly. “I do not think he will mind if I continue in that role, but if we become close……….”

      “If we become close?” I prodded.

      “You must remember Steven, I am the youngest daughter of the village shaman, and I am a spoiled brat, so I need a lot of attention,” she told me with a smile and a look of mischief about her.

      I leaned in then and kissed her longer than before.

      “Will that do for attention for the moment?” I asked.

      “I think we may have to consider how we will discuss this with my father before long.” She answered. “But, he seems to like you, and he recognizes your value here, and he has been making arrangements for you to meet with people that he hopes will help you cope better with the unusual nature of life here. There is a doctor and a biologist from the outside world that are  here, but live in a different village, and they have ideas about our unusual nature here.”

      “Interesting. What about your Mother?”

      “My Mother likes you already,” Bimma answered with a smile.

      “You and Urshi have talked about this?” I asked.

      “Mothers always know what is going on with their daughters,” came back Bimma, “she is actually the one who called me out on it.”

      “I should have guessed such,” I said then as Bimma took my hand and we began the walk back toward the main village. Then I asked the question that had been nagging me: “So, when does this happen to me?”

      “I don’t know,” she answered slowly. “You should probably ask Jeremy as he is the only other one here that wasn’t born this way. But I do know that it will happen.”

      “How are you so sure?”

      “Because that is why you sleep so much and then are so hungry on awakening. Father says that there are changes that began happening to you when you got here.”

      “What causes these changes?”

      “I don’t know, but I know that every newcomer here changes to become like us.” She answered.

      “It doesn’t seem to affect children,” I said then.

      “No, children are not affected until they start to become adults, I don’t know why this is either. For me I was 15 or so when it first happened. Boys seem to take a little longer. That is the time when we are still kids becoming adults, and becoming a balloon is a rite of passage. That is when being a balloon is like becoming a plaything, but even as adults we don’t deny the fun and enjoyment that can come with it.”

      By now we were coming back into the central area of the village. Bimma turned to me again and said: “Are you sure you aren’t angry with me?”

      I wanted to give her another hug and a kiss, but there were other people walking about, so I just smiled and told her: “Since the shock is now wearing off, it is now easy for me to say no, I am not angry, but I am a bit concerned. You decided to do this on your own, didn’t you?”

      She nodded.

      “So I do hope your Father isn’t angry, as he and Numassa seem to like to be in control of things.”

      She smiled at me then, “he may be annoyed with me, but remember what I told you? I am the youngest daughter of Kubar, and I am a spoiled brat!”

      I laughed at that as we entered their home. Urshi was there and looked at us shrewdly.

      “You told him, or more likely showed him, didn’t you?” accused Urshi to Bimma.

      “Yes Mother, it seemed to me like a good idea. We couldn’t be out walking around without him seeing things that were going to seem too unusual. Showing him seemed to be the best way I thought, now he can get on with growing accustomed to life here.”

      “Please don’t be angry with Bimma,” I said then to Urshi. “She was as kind and careful about it as she could be. I was the difficult one about letting her explain and show me about people here.”

      “Kubar is meeting now with Numassa about some things,” said Urshi then. “Perhaps you might want to wash up before dinner. I am sure he will want to discuss things with you at greater length now that you understand things better about life here.”

      So Bimma again took my hand and led me to a place outside the village where a stream flowed. At one place a small dam had been built and while water flowed over the dam, the stream had widened there and proved to be deep enough to come up to my chest as I waded in. I turned and looked behind me to see Bimma still on the shore losing yet more of her size.

     “This is one activity that requires giving up our balloon form,” she said as I looked at her curiously. “It is hard to get washed up if all you do is float.”

      That was something that hadn’t occurred to me, and I was quite surprised as I watched her deflate more and more. Finally she looked down at herself and walked toward the water. She looked at me then and laughed as the surprise must have been evident on my face. Bimma was still incredibly voluptuous with full breasts and a wide womanly ass, but she was a shadow of her former size.

      “Yes, we can return to a somewhat normal size when need be,” she told me as she waded into the water. “Getting clean without standing in the rain is one reason.”

      “For what other reasons do you give up your balloon form?” I asked.

      “The villagers in Lagoon and South village make a point to appear normal when people come ashore from visiting ships so as not to cause problems, and there are some jobs and chores here for which being inflated is just not convenient. But most people prefer to be at least partially inflated most of the time. Now please wash my back,” she finished handing me the soap.

      A mutually pleasurable washing session later we waded to the shore and toweled off. Running my hand over my face I wondered if Kubar had a razor I could use. As I was thinking this I watched as Bimma slipped her native skirt back on, closed her eyes and after a moment enlarged to what I thought of as her normal size. It really was amazing I thought to see what were probably DD breasts go  to probably a size that would require a custom bra maker. Not that any bra was needed here as they stuck straight out proudly in defiance of gravity. I guessed that if Bimma was the size she now was without her special ability her weight would be easily over 400.

 

                                                                                                                        VIII

 

      When we got back to the home of Kubar Urshi was waiting outside for us.

      “Your father wants to speak to you Bimma,” she said with an arch look. “Alone,” she finished placing a hand on my arm.

      Bimma stiffened a bit, but turned and walked into the house resolutely.

     Urshi turned to regard me for a moment. “So, my daughter acquainted you with the central reality of our life here,” she said.

      I nodded, but said nothing.

      “My daughter seems to be quite fond of you,” Urshi went on, “but you are a new arrival here and have much to see yet.”

       “So what is your concern?” I asked.

       “It is important to her that you come to appreciate our life here, and as her mother I am naturally concerned with her happiness. So I am concerned that if you are becoming fond of her as well that you are honest in your intentions. It is well known that you are here and a new arrival from the world outside, and as such you are something of a novelty, and many women here would be interested in you, even from other villages. We know of the concept of the gene pool here, and as the novelty of a new arrival combined with this concept you have a status that you probably do not appreciate. Many women on this island would take an interest in you. In fact you would be receiving more attention here in this village but for Kubar and Numassa. Having Bimma keeping you close keeps unwanted attention away as the daughter of Kubar is not to be trifled with.” Urshi finished.

      “I was unaware that I was such a novelty,” I answered.

      “Did Jeremy Brandon not tell you of his wife?” she asked.

      “Of course I met her, Shara was her name, was it not?”

      “Yes, Shara is a lovely woman, and she and Jeremy are very happy together. But understand that she was but one of many women that took an interest in him. As you might expect the village chiefs and shamans do wield some degree of authority here, most often it has to do with just sorting out local disagreements, but other times it has to do with cementing ties between families and other villages. By your world understanding this may be very simplistic, but it can be very serious here in our small world. While it was always Jeremy’s choice, there were a number of women that took an interest in him. Shara is the second daughter of the shaman of South village, and it gives a certain status there that she and Jeremy married. As I believe he told you, new arrivals here are unusual. You saw a transport arriving today I understand?”

      Word moves quickly in these villages I thought as I nodded to Urshi.

      “These transports are not only how we move goods from place to place here, but also news of other villages move easily this way. Since often once the winds carry a transport and its people to a place, often they must stay there until the winds are favorable for a return. This has been the way here for centuries, and hospitality is always extended to a transport crew. During this time naturally people exchange news and gossip. Your arrival here was known about the island within a week.”

      “Urshi, why are you telling me all this?” I asked.

      “Because this is also part of you becoming part of our unique culture. Obviously we have made our unique ability as human balloons work as an integral part of it, but these less overt things I tell you now are equally a part of how life is here. Life here is as you see it, mostly happy and without many difficult demands, but like anyplace there is an underside.”

      “So there is some politics involved too?” I said with some surprise.

      “Of course there is politics,” Urshi replied. “Life here is very community based, but we know we are a larger community as a small island nation. I have four daughters, but I am lucky if I see any of the others but Bimma once a year. They have all been married to other villages to improve relations.”

      I was a bit taken aback by this confession from Urshi.

      “If Bimma had not been with me since my arrival here I don’t think I would be coping nearly as well as I am,” I said then, “she has been more important to me than anything even in this short time. I would not want to think that she would go away somewhere that I would not see her again.”

      “Then perhaps you and she might discuss what you have just learned from me and see what thoughts the both of you arrive at,” suggested Urshi.

      Just then Bimma came out of the house to tell us that dinner was ready.

      It was just the four of us at the dinner table, and at first there was little conversation. Kubar paid attention to his food, and while Bimma reached under the table to squeeze my hand a few times, she too said little. I suspected her father was not happy with her deciding to take matters into her own hands in her demonstration to me. When we finished eating Kubar poured drink for us and sat back looking at me.

      “So, Bimma has shown you the main difference between us and the outside world,” he said finally.

      “She did,” I answered, “and now that I am over the shock, I am glad it was she that did show me. I think I can appreciate that you may have been trying to be easy with me about it and so lessen the shock, but something so outside of my understanding of the possible just would have been difficult any way it came at me I think.”

      Kubar grunted at this, still looking me in the eye. “I have arranged for some men also from the outside world, but with knowledge of medicine and biology to come here, as we suspect that you are not likely to take the unusual nature of this at face value.”

      Oddly, this had not occurred to me. It seemed to me for a moment that I had forgotten all my training, and my life as a biochemist was long ago and far away. I thought for a moment before it occurred to me to ask: “So investigating this won’t violate any cultural taboos here?”

      Kubar laughed a short laugh at that. “Maybe hundreds of years ago it might have, but as Jeremy told you: we don’t live in a vacuum here, and we do take an interest in what goes on outside of our small island. In truth, many people have ideas and thoughts on our peculiarity, but until your arrival no means existed where we might actually understand it. So if you can help us understand ourselves better it would be a good thing.”

      Bimma finally smiled at me, and reached across the table now to take my hand. “I would love to learn anything I can if you will be looking into it,” she told me.

      I smiled back at her. “So you would like to become a lab assistant?”

      “The winds will be favorable tomorrow,” Kubar said then, “so I expect the men I told you of will arrive here sometime in the afternoon. I must go and tell Jeremy.” With that he got up and left the house.

      Bimma poured more drink for us, and led me out of the house. The evening was warm, but this time of year the sun was setting earlier. We sat down on the bench in front of the house and just held hands for a time.

      “Your Father was not happy with you for your show and tell with me today,” I said.

      Bimma laughed at that. “Show and tell? What an interesting way to put it.”

      “It seemed to sum it up well I thought,” I replied.

      “Yes it did, and yes, Father was not happy with me, but he does not stay angry with his youngest daughter for long.”

       “Your mother told me that she has four daughters.”

      “Yes, my older sisters, all married off to other villages. I do not get to see them often. They have not come here in a while, and lately there have not been transports to any of the places they are. I could just go I suppose, but while flying is always a pleasure, it is not often a good idea to fly alone.”

      “I guess I can understand that,” I said. “But where are they?”

      “Ayesha, the oldest, is married to the oldest son of the chief of North village, Trina, the next, is married to the son of the shaman of East village, and Quona, the one to whom I am closest is married to the son of the shaman of Deep Valley village. I miss them very much.”

      “How are these things arranged?” I asked then.

      “Unfortunately we children of chiefs and shamans have a higher profile than most here,” she answered slowly. “There are some others of prominence too, some crafts people create very unique things that are much sought after, and so gain status, and marriages from one village to another make for closer ties. No one forces someone into a marriage, but the circumstances of our parents often limit our choices. I have avoided this so far as I am not satisfied with any of the men that have been in my realm of choices. I don’t really want to leave West village either, but the children of Numassa are much too young for me.”

      I turned that over in my mind before deciding to take the plunge.

      “Bimma, if I wanted to marry you, what do you think your father’s reaction would be?”

      Bimma turned to look at me with her eyes open incredibly wide, for a moment she just stared at me with her mouth open. All I could do was to stare back into those big dark eyes.

       “So I guess his reaction wouldn’t be that positive,” I said then.

       A squeal of protest came from her then. “You want to marry me?” she squeaked, her voice up an octave or two.

       “Bimma, I didn’t talk about this at dinner the other night, but what made me find myself here, or what made me agree to join the expedition that ended up with my being here, was the ending of another bad relationship. I was disgusted with life and wanted to get away from it all. It seems that in coming here that is exactly what I did, and finding you might be the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t dare not to take this chance because I think that if you were to go away it would affect me deeply, and I don’t want to have that happen and spend a lot of my life after wondering what might have happened if I didn’t ask.”

      As someone that was well grounded in science, I wasn’t used to giving speeches like this, but this all just came out of me at once, and in the silence that followed I realized I wasn’t the least bit sorry about it. To further emphasize it, I got on my knee in front of her thinking that it was hard to keep looking up into her eyes with her enormous boobs in the way, but I did my best.

      “So would you consider marrying me?” I asked then thinking about what Urshi had told me about my novelty, and being very grateful for it.

      “Consider it?” she squeaked again. “How could I say no?” She pulled me up into her fat boobs and belly with her arms around me and gave me a long kiss. As I looked over her shoulder I saw Urshi standing in the doorway with a smile on her face.

 

 

 

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