Blimp 2

"So, you're into getting big?"

I stopped in midstep on the beach, not expecting anyone to sneak up on me and ask questions.  Turning, I saw a redhead in a bikini top and jean shorts standing behind me with a sly look. "Sorry?"

She made a sweeping gesture, indicating the green, black and grey bodysuit that covered everything but my hands, feet and head. "Your outfit.  Either that or you're a surfer, and I don't see a board."

"Oh, yeah.  Why, are..." I paused, looking for the right phrase.  Asking people outright if they could blow themselves up wasn't rude, per se, just kind of tactless. "Do you... do it?"

She laughed, pointing to her flat chest. "If I did, do you think I'd go around like this?  No, I'm just fascinated by it, that's all."  She approached me, gently resting one hand on my shoulder. "You know, I saw you carrying around that blimp cabin.  That's quite a size you reached."

"Well, I don't want to brag, but-"

"But let's say you did."

"What?"

"Let's say you wanted to brag and show off." She gave me a coy look. "To me.  To a fan."

I had fans?

"How big can you get?"

I licked my lips, looking around at the rest of the beach.  The area I was in was nearly empty, with only a few stalls and the boardwalk in the distance.  After a moment of thought I made a motion for her to back up and, after one final look to see if the area was clear, I drew in deepest breath I could muster.

My growth was nothing short of explosive.  I billowed out in all directions, the sudden influx of air turning my body round and reducing my limbs to domes with hands and feet at the ends.  The force of my transformation shoved me off the ground and launched me into the air before I floated lazily back down belly-first.

The woman chuckled to herself, taking a few steps back to give me room.  A few seconds later she realized that I was going to need far more than a few steps, and she turned and quickly walked away, gesturing to the boardwalk nearby.  As I continued to pack yards on my waistline she climbed the stairs, trailing one hand along the railing until coming to a stop across from my head.  There, she leaned on the rail, resting her chin on her hand and watching me grow with a bemused expression, a stark contrast to the awed looks of the few people around her.  She wanted to see how big I could get; who was I to deny her?

By now I had to have been at least five stories high and gaining, sucking down breath with enough force to set flags and loose cloth in motion.  I was starting to run out of room ahead of me and could already feel a building brush against my side.  I focused on the air inside me, trying to grow up as well as out.  As my face neared hers my stomach left the ground and I slowly lifted into the air, hovering several yards above her.  I slowly rotated to face her, still wide-mouthed and pulling in a torrent of air.

She laughed and gestured with both hands. "Back up a little!" she shouted. "I want to take a good look at you!"

I drifted up and back towards the ocean, adding yards to my waistline by the second.  One hundred feet, one fifty, two hundred... as I grew bigger I grew faster, and as I grew faster I grew bigger.  By now the rush of air was rolling through my body, rumbling deep and loudly enough to be heard from the ground.  I watched my shadow spread across the beach, eclipsing the boardwalk, the shops, the beachgoers, and in the center of it all, the redhead still watching me.

By now I was far larger than even the largest blimp, breathing in with enough force to cause loose papers to swirl into the air and fly towards me.  Not wanting to cause damage to the beach I began to slowly roll backwards in the air, my head rising higher as I turned right-side up.  I watched as, in the distance, the town slowly came into view, spread out before me.  There were still a few buildings larger than me, but they wouldn't be for long.

As I turned, more of the town came into view, but as I grew and kept turning it slowly began to disappear, covered by the curve of my chest.  By the time I had righted myself in the air it had long vanished over the horizon of my body, leaving me with nothing but the clouds, the sky, and my own swollen form.

With nothing to distract me, I grew, sucking in a torrent of air.  I grew, feeling my skin stretch and pull to contain it.  I grew, listening to the creaks and the rush of wind.  I grew, ever larger, ever wider, at an unimaginable speed, with a waistline that could only be measured in thousands of feet.

Suddenly I was alerted to a new noise - a faint ripping sound - and I looked down to see a tear form at the neck of my suit, running down and disappearing from my view.  I felt it pull away from my chest, then my navel, then the rest of my body.  Stretched too far, it tore apart and fell off, leaving me nude as I floated in the air like a flesh-toned moon.  By now, though, I was too large to care about things like modesty.

My body rumbled and groaned loudly as I filled myself with air at an unbelievable rate, stretching my titanic form ever larger, but I could tell I was approaching my limit.  As the tension rose I slowed my intake to a stop, pausing for a few seconds before returning to normal, albeit strained breathing.  Not a moment too soon, too; I could hear the rubbery creaking of my skin and feel it throbbing as it barely contained the incredible pressure inside of me, constantly shifting and pushing out in all directions as it sought release.  Even though I had pushed my limits countless times before, now that the rush was wearing off I was starting to feel a little worried.  It's hard not to when your entire body telling you that you've gone too far, gotten too big, taken in too much.

But I had done it.  She wanted to see how big I could get, and she got her answer.

Of course, I couldn't exactly see her.  My view was equal parts sky and me, stretching off hundreds of feet into the distance before curving out of view.  I would have rotated down to face her again, but as slightly overinflated as I was, I couldn't move too well.  That was even assuming I didn't scare her off by blowing myself up to such a gargantuan degree.  I haven't met anyone who could even get close to how big I can get.

In the distance, I saw Shania float over my horizon in her blue and white suit.  It was impossible to tell how big she was in proportion to me, but judging from the scale of her head to her body she only looked about ten feet across.  As she drew close she blew out the air in her body and walked the rest of the way to my head.  Her feet felt miniscule as she approached, and as she stopped and leaned over me I could see she didn't even sink into my drum-tight skin.

"Geez, listen to you.  You sound like you're going to explode."

"I'll be fine," I grunted, only able to speak in short huffs. "I just-" I winced as a wave of pressure rolled through me, and my body let out a long, deep groan of protest. "I just need some... time to stretch out.  You know... how it is."

"Oh, I know.  But what I -don't- know is what it's like to be floating above the beach blocking out the sun and scaring people in town when they look out their window and see a mile-wide balloon hovering around."

I had a rough idea of how large I was, but hearing a concrete figure from Shania was nothing short of awe-inspiring.  All this tension, all this air compressed inside of me... I wiggled my toes, trying to wrap my head around them being a mile away.  "Am I really... that big?"

"I've flown a mile before.  Trust me, you're that big."

"Huh.  Last year I was only... half that." I smiled up at Shania, but she continued to glare at me.  It doesn't matter how big you are, when someone is looking down at you, you -feel- small.

"What if you exploded?  It would be like a bomb going off."

"I'm not... going to explode."  My body let out another loud pneumatic moan, and she gave me a dubious look before sighing.

"Look, I know you're all about pushing your limits, but you need to do it someplace where you're not going to roll over anyone or anything.  Besides, that woman you were talking to?"

"Yes?"

"She left a long time ago."

I would have shrugged if I still had shoulders.  She -was- cute, but nothing worth obsessing over. "Oh well."

Shania sat down next to my head. "So how long are you going to be like this?"

"Until my body... adjusts to the pressure.  Maybe... an hour.  You don't need... to stay if... you don't want to."

"Nah, I'll keep you company."

"Thanks."

"Hey, what are friends for?"