Hunger Game, The

The Hunger Game

By biff97

Ages ago, on the edge of the Wildlands there was a small and unassuming kingdom ruled by an elderly King. Although just and kind-natured, the King had one flaw: he adored his queen unquestioningly. Many years his younger, the Queen was a beauty to behold. But beneath her elegance and grace lay a heart that was cruel and icy, delighting in the misery and misfortune of those around her. Thankfully for the people of the kingdom when the Queen gave birth, the Princess retained her mother’s charm and delicacy yet possessed only her father’s compassionate and caring nature.

Now as it came to pass, there was one growing season that was unquestionably hard. Many of the crops had failed and the livestock atrophied, and famine swept the land. The King, broken-hearted by this state of affairs, did all he could to aide his troubled people. The Queen, however, looked out on the grief and hardship, and a wicked idea entered her mind.

The Queen called upon the Royal Architect to design for her a machine, a monumental and imposing device centered around a large, sturdy chair that would incessantly feed whomever was strapped into the rough-hewn seat. For that person, only one arm would remain free, able to pull a lever that would prematurely shut down the machine.

The Queen then announced a contest open to all of the kingdom: should the eldest daughter of any family manage to endure a fortnight in the device, the Queen would bestow upon the household ten times the amount of food the girl had consumed, enough to feed the family for months. If the girl failed and quit before the allotted span of time expired, the family walked away with nothing.

Almost immediately, destitute families showed up at the gates of the castle in hopes of ending their suffering. One by one, the eldest daughters tried to best the machine, and one by one they failed. The first maiden undertaking the Queen’s challenge lasted only a few hours; the foremost persevered for six days. After each of the abandoned attempts, the Queen delighted as she watched the parents help their daughters depart the Grand Chamber, the girls’ own bellies excruciatingly bloated and full while everyone else in the girls’ families remained hungry.

While the Queen sat on her throne, savoring the tragedy of every defeat, the King remained on his, saddened and silent, unable to rebuke his beloved Queen. The soft-hearted Princess, the Queen noticed in passing early on, had steered clear of the Grand Chamber altogether during the contest. Beyond the third day, the Queen barely perceived anything else as she remained fixated on the hapless young women who subjected themselves to her devilish contraption.

Even after a dozen or more contestants tried and failed, the Queen showed no sign of growing bored of her new entertainment. If anything, the Queen became increasingly fascinated as it stoked the internal fires of her cruelty. When yet another youthful woman showed up, peasant family in tow, the Queen was eager to see what amusement this new challenger had to offer.

The newcomer was young, barely an adult as far as the Queen could tell. She would have had beautiful skin, the Queen observed, save for it was unwashed and filthy. Her feet were bare and caked with mud, as if she had walked quite a distance. The girl wore a simple burlap dress…hardly more than a sack really, much too big for her slender frame. As if to compensate, a crude rope belt cinched the garment about her waist, tied loosely. Her long, dark hair was unkempt, and would have been unruly save it was tied back to keep it out of her face.

The only irregularity the Queen noted was the unadorned mask the girl wore, covering the top half of her face. Although simpler in design, it was akin to one of the Harlequin masks worn during the kingdom’s annual carnival celebration. Previously the Queen had avidly drank in the shame and humiliation of the preceding participants as they shuffled out of the Grand Chamber cradling their distended stomachs, accompanied by their despondent families; she was surprised it took this long for someone to think of wearing a mask to hide their inevitable failure and disgrace.

Without a word the young girl took her seat in the device and allowed herself to be strapped in. The Queen’s attendant lowered the feeding mask over the girl’s mouth and secured the buckles. The device started with a prolonged groan, shuddering and churning as it prepared to feed its next victim. The hose attached to the mask jerked then stiffened as it became engorged.

The girl’s eyes widened as her cheeks suddenly bulged. She swallowed quickly, catching up to the food being forced down the tube. Once she got into a rhythm, her astonished look receded and she regained her composure. This latest aspirant seemed determined, driven even, keeping up with the device and its endless abundance of food.

By the end of the first day, the young girl showed no sign of stopping, her formerly flat abdomen now appreciably protruding under her peasant garb. By the third day the slack belt had grown snug across her midsection. The dress that had earlier hung off her slight physique began to fill out. Yet the miniscule contender’s hand never moved toward the lever to make it stop. The Queen found herself sitting forward on the edge of her seat, rapt with anticipation; the King, more sorrowful than ever watching this most recent attempt to triumph over the device, quietly quit the Grand Chamber.

Inexorably, as the days went by the girl’s belly swelled outwards, growing larger and rounder with each passing moment. By the seventh day, her turgid midriff had widened considerably as well. Yielding to overwhelming pressure, the girl’s crude belt burst apart with a loud crack, eliciting a squeal of delight from the Queen. The girl’s belly surged past the appearance of being pregnant, such that she had to shift her hips forward so she could recline and spread her legs to accommodate her rapidly expanding girth.

The days and nights crawled agonizingly on and the hapless youth’s distension accelerated. Her waistline grew so much, had both of the girl’s arms been free she would have no longer been able to touch her fingertips together had she wrapped them around her belly. Where beforehand her tiny form resembled a fragile little doll perched atop the colossal chair, now her swollen figure nearly encompassed the entirety of the bench. The girl’s free hand rubbed the massive hemisphere of taut flesh before her, but never strayed toward the lever that could cease her torment.

At sundown on the fourteenth day, the device wheezed and ground to a halt. The subsequent silence in the Grand Chamber was deafening, save for the sound of the Queen’s attendant unbuckling the feeding mask and undoing the restraints. The Queen herself was trembling, overcome with excitement from the delicious torture she had witnessed.

The young girl audibly groaned as she slowly pulled herself out of the chair and stood up, legs shaking. Her torso curved massively outwards from just below her chest all the way to her pelvis. Her once-baggy dress was drawn tight, stretched almost to bursting. With labored breathing, she supported her enormous belly with one hand and removed her mask with the other.

The Queen let out a gasp of unadulterated surprise. The squalid, diminutive waif…the one who had held on tenaciously throughout unspeakable adversity…was none other than the Princess. The Queen’s mind was blank, unable to process the convergence of facts before her.

“What’s the meaning of this?,” the Queen demanded harshly.

“Your lust for cruelty knows no bounds, Mother,” the Princess replied defiantly, “I could abide it no more.”

“This contest was not meant for you, it was meant for…them,” the Queen motioned to the sham family accompanying the Princess, “You came in here under false pretenses.”

“You were not specific in your composition of the rules for your contest, Mother. You only stated the eldest daughter of any family in the Kingdom. That includes us,” the Princess retorted, “I never said these people were blood relatives. And you never asked.”

The Queen was speechless. She opened her mouth several times to speak, only to shut it again without uttering a single word. All she could do was blink in disbelief. Finally, the Princess spoke.

“Your rules also stated ten times the amount of food consumed would be bestowed upon the family of the winner,” she said, voice trembling slightly, “As you are my family, the prize shall be bestowed upon you.”

The Queen made a snort of derision, then stood up and turned to leave. She found herself facing the King and his royal guard, who had moved in behind her unnoticed while she was focused on her daughter.

“I’m sorry, my love,” the King sighed, “But our child is right.” He motioned to his guards, who forcibly escorted the Queen to the vacant seat of the device. The Princess stepped awkwardly aside, her once-graceful gait reduced to a clumsy waddle. The Queen struggled the entire time, but the guards were too strong, and firm in their loyalty to their King. Only when she was tenaciously strapped in, both arms secure, with mask in place, did she cease her fighting.

“Ten times the amount of food I bestow upon you,” the Princess declared as if passing judgement. The device started with a prolonged groan. The hose attached to the mask jerked then stiffened as it became engorged.