This was found by discord user Storyfan134. If there is anyone to thank, its him.
The sighting comes from Ghosts and More Ghosts, which is a collection of short stories. The inflation scene is found in The Wonderful Day.
To sum it up, the inflated is a full bodied female with an ego and is fashionable. Basically, a 1950's model becomes a full balloon.
This was published before Charlie and the Chocolate by 1 year.
https://sta.sh/21ta95d8v2wp?edit=1
That was amazing! It hit all the right notes for me -- the graduality of the inflation and her awareness of it, the inflatee being pushed around by the wind, being squeezed by her corset, losing her grip, grasping for handholds and failing, torn between calling for help and not drawing attention to herself -- this sounds like something I could have written.
Is there any more to the story? It seems like there should be some context for her inflation, like some sort of curse put on her. And what happens next? Does she float away?
I will share the TV Tropes description since that contains the context as well as Norton's fate.
Aww, a bit of an anticlimax that she gets it under control so quickly. Still, that scene was inspiring, and I look forward to adapting it in one of my own stories.
edit: huh, strikethrough doesn't seem to work
Great find!
I know there will be some spelling errors XD i am sending this all from my phone and on no sleep.