When the Wind Blows

Wind rustled through the grass of the meadow, which shimmered in the bright sunlight of early afternoon. June was a lovely time of year in this part of the country. Joshua took a long breath of the fresh summer air as he stood in the middle of the meadow. From where he stood, he could see all the little trails and footpaths that wound through the meadow, joining other trails, some going past the little pond of bulrushes at the far corner of the field, all eventually leading back into the forest of oaks and bays and Douglas firs that made up most of the park.

A black and white spot appeared out of the woods on one of these trails, and as it grew closer it materialized into a woman in her mid-twenties. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was clad in a gray tank top and black cutoff shorts. Her skin was an unblemished creamy white, free of sunburn, and Joshua deduced that she must be wearing sunscreen, which he himself replaced with a wide-brimmed hat. As the woman drew nearer he raised his butterfly net and waved at her. She returned the wave as she turned onto the trail he stood in.

When she was only a few feet away, Joshua realized that the black bands on her forearms were large tattoos, wrapping around the lower part of her arms and stopping just before the wrist. They were simple lines and circles, perhaps something tribal, but Joshua liked the effect. Now that she was close, he could appreciate other details as well. She was clearly athletic, but her thighs had a pleasant thickness to them, which continued up into her hips. Her breasts were small, but nicely shaped, encased in her stretchy tank top. She had a nice face as well. Joshua smiled, partly in greeting but also in excitement. He had found a target.

“Any luck?” the woman said, eyeing his butterfly net.

“Well, I’ve seen plenty,” he replied pleasantly, “but I haven’t caught much.”

“You try by the pond?”

“Oh, yeah, I caught a couple dragonflies.”

“Hmm, cool,” she said, smiling at what she saw as a dorky guy. “Well, good luck.”

“Thank you,” said Joshua, as they both continued on their way. “Have a nice day.”

“You, too.”

Joshua walked toward the trees on the nearest path, keeping an eye on the figure which continued down the trail through the meadow. Setting down his backpack by a large oak, he unscrewed the top of his butterfly net, and unscrewed the cap on the bottom. Carefully, Joshua pulled out a small dart from his backpack and loaded it into the blowgun.

He raised the tube to his lips, and took careful aim on the retreating figure. Drawing in a shaky breath, he fired. Joshua then leaned back on the trunk of the oak to watch the show.

***

Holly was walking through the meadow on her way back to her car when she felt a sharp pain in her left buttock. Reaching back, all she felt was the feathery end of a grass seed, and pulled it out of her shorts, wincing. She felt funny; there was a tingling sensation spreading from her butt to the rest of her body. Then, suddenly, she let out a gasp. Her clothes had tightened on her suddenly, and Holly could feel them grow even tighter. A hand traveled to the waist of her shorts, but Holly gasped again when the hand encountered a hugely swollen belly. Looking down, her view was blocked by similarly swollen breasts, and a quick check with her hands revealed that her butt had also grown. Holly quickly realized that they were still growing, as rips formed on the sides of her shorts. Her face contorted with pain as the tightness grew to unbearable levels. Then, suddenly, in one huge mass of ripping and popping, Holly’s clothes flew off of her, no longer able to withstand her inflation. Looking down at the huge expanse of belly and breasts in front of her, and feeling her rounding torso frantically with her hands, Holly let out a loud scream.

***

Joshua watched the expansion commence with giddy excitement. This particular batch of serum had been made to cause instant and rapid inflation, and it was doing its job well. In only a few seconds, everything but her shoes had been ripped off by her swelling body.

She let out a scream, and Joshua hurriedly picked up his pack, screwing the ends back onto his butterfly net. Now came the most crucial part of his performance. He grinned ecstatically, then shook his head quickly, getting into character as he ran back down the trail toward the expanding woman.

***

“Oh my god! Are you alright?”

Holly spun around awkwardly to find the man with the butterfly net staring at her in amazement. He must have heard her scream.

“Please,” she said, too frightened at the moment to worry about being naked in front of a stranger. “I don’t know what’s happening! Unh!” she gasped again as another surge of inflation hit her. “It’s so fast! Please help me!”

The man didn’t seem to know what to do, and as Holly’s limbs swelled to rigidity, a gust of wind pushed her onto her back. The huge horizon of her belly completely hid the man from view, and so Holly was unable to see the look of devious pleasure on his face as he watched her limbs be absorbed into the massive sphere of her torso, and her exposed crotch surpass her feet. From where he stood, he could also see the dark ring that her tattoo made around her left hand. All told, the entire inflation had taken less than a minute. Holly was now a ball with nothing but her head and her farthest extremities to prove that she was a person and not a balloon.

Holly’s breathing slowed. “I… I think it’s stopped,” she said.

“Are you alright?” said the butterfly man, still out of view.

“No, I’m not alright!” she practically shouted. “I just blew up like a balloon and you’re standing right where you can see everything!”

“Oh!” he said, comprehending, and Holly finally saw him come into view, hurrying back around to her upper hemisphere. “Are you in any pain?” he asked, and she could see that he was genuinely concerned.

“Um… no, I guess I’m not,” she replied, her anger melting away. It was true; despite the horror of inflating like a blimp, it hadn’t hurt, and she didn’t feel like she was in danger of bursting. In fact, she almost admitted to herself, the sensation of blowing up had felt almost pleasurable.

“Do you think you’ll be alright while I go get help?” the butterfly man asked. He had already pulled out his cell phone, and the look on his face told Holly that it got no service out in the park.

“I… I think so,” she said, slightly uneasy about being left alone but desperate for some help getting home or to the hospital or to somewhere where she could get clothes to cover herself up. The man nodded, and as he turned away she caught a strange look in his eyes as he glanced over her body once more. She quickly dismissed it as her imagination, however. The last thing she saw of him was the head of is butterfly net as he disappeared behind the horizon of her body on his way out of the park.

***

Joshua stopped just inside the tree line, peering out from behind a large trunk at the large creamy pink ball getting rolled around the meadow by the wind. He almost wished that it would just stay at that, watching her be buffeted by even the gentlest of breezes, and completely helpless to do anything about it. But he knew that the second, delayed expansion was about to begin, and then she would have to worry about the wind for a very different reason. He also applauded himself for cutting the laces on her shoes just before he left. That way she’d have a view…

***

Holly was getting very pissed off. As pretty as the grass was swaying in the wind, it itched like hell on her stretched-out skin as she was rolled about like some huge beach ball. The main problem, of course, was that she couldn’t scratch the affected areas unless they were within a couple of inches of her hands. She was quickly realizing how little she was capable of doing in this state.

It had been going on like this for a few minutes when Holly felt the tingling return. “Oh, shit!” she hissed, feeling her skin stretch even more. Her body righted itself suddenly, with Holly’s head now at the very top, and she now felt a new sensation. Or rather, an amplified sensation, she realized. She hadn’t noticed that the initial expansion had made her lighter, but now, the weight she had left seemed to be dwindling away at an alarming rate. The heaviest parts of her, her shoes, were now keeping her upright because of their weight. Holly felt desperately thankful for them; gravity’s hold on her was starting to feel more and more tenuous.

Suddenly, she felt something slip. Her shoes seemed to be undoing themselves as her feet swelled within them. The laces had failed! Holly realized as they both popped off her feet.

***

Joshua grinned wildly as the woman rose into the air with a scream. Watching her float up into the sky, he jumped up excitedly. That was the best one yet! He realized that he would probably have to do a lot more work to try and top that expansion. Ideas swam through his head as he headed down the trail, clicking his heels with satisfaction.

***

The ground fell away beneath Holly, the meadow shrinking and the whole of the park unfurling beneath her. Soon she could see the city around the park, cars traversing its many streets, tiny little people walking its sidewalks, all blissfully unaware of the huge creamy pink balloon that was rising out of the park and into the air. Surely no one saw the little round speck in the sky, spiraling in the strong wind, and if they did, they mistook it for what anyone would: a gift to a foolish child, or perhaps a party decoration escaped from its tether. Not even the faintest thought entered their minds that this could be what it really was: a person reduced to a huge buoyant sphere, with nothing but empty sky and relentless winds to look forward to. Holly knew that no one down in that bustling little metropolis knew what it was they saw floating against an infinite blue backdrop, no one except perhaps the man with the butterfly net. But she knew that even he couldn’t do anything for her now; the only thing she could hope for now was that the winds would stay in her favor.

They carried her east, even as the ground shrank further beneath her. Now she could see the mountains that ran up the coast, even a bit of ocean that glimmered in the late afternoon sun. That dwindled away as the wind took her farther inland, and soon a great valley stretched before her, its far end hidden in the haze of car exhaust and woodsmoke that hung as a constant testament to human presence. The shadows of the coast ranges behind Holly grew longer in the dying rays of the sun, and the already cold air grew even colder. The heat of her body kept the gas inside her warm, and this new temperature change carried her even higher into the troposphere. The pressure drop had already puffed up her hands and feet, and now they became harder and harder to move until, finally, Holly found herself completely immobile. Her head was spared, however, enabling her to look around, and under slightly different circumstances she would find the view stunning. The snow-capped Sierras finally revealed themselves as the sun reached the horizon, and then the land darkened into night.

Up here the stars were no longer shrouded by pollution. When the wind turned Holly on her back she was able to see the great arc of the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon. Not long after nightfall the wind dwindled, and then started up gradually from the other direction. As the land bled off the heat of the day it pushed the air back out to sea, and Holly was pushed along with it. The valley disappeared from view and eventually the ocean became visible again. The jagged coastline ended abruptly beneath her, sharp sea cliffs giving way to open ocean as the wind blew Holly further west. Soon, all she could see was a faint sparkle of light from the towns on the coast, far off in the distance, and eventually even that vanished from sight. It was now her, the stars, and an endless expanse of water.

Physically and mentally drained from the events of the previous day, Holly fell asleep sometime during the night. When she awoke, it was morning, and the winds had carried her further west and south. The air was warmer here, and Holly now drifted a bit closer to the ocean’s surface; this granted her some flexibility in her hands and feet. Occasionally she saw boats, some miniscule fishing trawlers that appeared as little specks against the blue water, and sometimes huge cargo ships that left massive trails of foam in their wake. Clouds were forming further west, and Holly could see the distinctive anvil heads that meant rain was on its way.

Something caught her eye drifting perhaps a quarter mile south. As it drew nearer, its round shape became more clear, a light brown colored sphere. Holly at first thought it was a weather balloon, but the idea that it could be someone like her was quick to enter her mind. Closer and closer the orb came, until, barely a dozen yards away, it rotated in the wind and a blond head appeared around one side.

Holly was amazed and, surprisingly, happy to find someone else with the same problem as her. She had been lonely up here in the sky, with no one to talk to. She was happy that she wouldn’t have to be alone now, even if it meant that someone else had been inflated helplessly as she had. She called out excitedly. The blond head turned, and even from the current distance, Holly was able to see the girl’s eyes widen in surprise. Both of them vigorously flapped their hands and feet, trying frantically to get closer to each other. Finally, after an agonizingly long effort, the two women were right next to one another, and before any gust of wind could pull them apart they locked hands.

“Who are you?” they both said at the same time. They both laughed.

“I’m Holly,” Holly said.

“I’m Allison,” said the other woman, smiling brightly. She had very darkly-tanned skin. Holly returned the smile. “What are you doing up here?” Allison asked.

“I was hiking when I suddenly just started blowing up,” explained Holly, recalling the experience in the meadow once again. “I floated up just yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” said Allison, astonished. She clarified when Holly gave her a questioning look. “I’ve been up here for about three years.”

“Three years?!” Holly was shocked.

“Give or take.”

“How did you get up here?”

“My boyfriend did it.”

Holly made sure she hadn’t misheard. “Your boyfriend did this to you?”

“Well, my ex-boyfriend, technically. It’s complicated. Flint was, shall we say, a little upset over the breakup. So, he did this to me, so I couldn’t be with any other guys.”

Allison didn’t seem very unhappy about this fact. Holly was confused. “Aren’t you mad?”

Allison tilted her head to one side, which was as much of a shrug as she was capable of. “I’ve had a while to calm down. He really was doing it to protect me. So I wouldn’t meet anyone dangerous.”

“But how could you float up here for three years?”

“I don’t really need to eat or drink in this condition. Flint made sure of that.”

Holly thought about the pangs of hunger that she had been having all morning. “Your condition must be different from mine, then. I’m starving. And I’m thirsty.”

“Well,” remarked Allison, “judging by those clouds, you’ll at least be able to get a drink of water pretty soon.”

***

They talked for several hours about their lives and their experiences. They held on to each other tightly as the rain pounded them during the night, but Allison was right; Holly did indeed get plenty to drink. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance, but the two women never passed near the heart of the storm. Holly fell asleep just like she had the day before, but this time holding the hand of her new companion with all her might.

***

The next morning Holly felt bloated, which she found rather ironic, and during a conversation with Allison she let out a loud belch. She immediately drifted down a few feet, pulling Allison down with her. Another belch caused another drop in altitude.

“I think,” Holly said, belching again, “I think I’m deflating!”

The winds were particularly strong today, and as the two inflated women drifted lower, a small speck of land appeared in the distance. It grew larger and larger until they could see the large island stretching out below them like a green jewel studding the water. Soon, however, the trade winds carried them past it. Holly’s increasing weight was bringing them lower, but progress was slow. Another island passed underneath them and away. Then two more in close succession. They were maybe a mile up with the arrival of a fifth body of land, close enough to clearly see the large city it possessed. But it, too, disappeared behind them, and still they drifted lower. All they could see ahead looked like open ocean.

“Do you think that was the last one?” said Holly, worried.

Allison smiled knowingly. “There are two more. We just passed Oahu.”

Holly was amazed. “We’re in Hawai’i? It’s only been two days!”

The horizon was empty for a long time. Just when they needed them most, the winds lessened, and the two of them floated maybe fifteen hundred feet above the waves. Holly was still too swollen to move much, but she was regaining her former weight rapidly, as each belch of buoyant gas robbed her of lift. But she still clung onto Allison’s hand determinedly.

The island finally appeared on the western horizon, and both Holly and Allison let out cries of joy when the wind once again picked up. In no time at all, they were over land, and this time they came in below the tops of the mountains. Holly was belching more frequently, and as they entered a wide valley she was able to touch the tops of trees with her toes. Finally, after a painfully long time, Holly and Allison touched ground. Or, rather, Holly brushed the ground with her feet while holding onto Allison, whose body still tried to pull the two of them unrelentingly skyward.

Holly looked down at terra firma and then back up at Allison, beaming. “We made it! We’re back down to Earth.”

Allison returned the smile. “You are, Holly.”

“True. But we’ll get you down soon enough. Don’t worry.”

Allison shook her head. “I’m not worried, Holly. I’m not coming down.”

“You aren’t?” Holly said, disbelieving. “Don’t you want to stay?”

“I would love to stay on the ground, believe me. But my place is in the sky. What do you think would happen if I let you take me back to a hospital or a house? I’d become a scientific subject, a medical marvel, tested on and poked and prodded for the rest of what could be a very long life. I have no need for anything on land. Everything I require is up there. You’re the only friend I have, Holly, but I can’t stay here with you.”

Holly understood. She looked up at Allison with sad, but accepting eyes. “Is there anything you’d like before I let you go?”

“Could you let me touch the ground for just a moment?”

Holly grinned, and pulled Allison down so that she could feel the ground with her free hand. Allison smiled at the feeling of something other than air touching her skin. “Thank you,” she said, and she clearly meant it. Holly let her float back up.

“Goodbye, Holly. Have a happy and satisfying life.”

“Goodbye, Allison. See if you can visit the moon one day.”

Allison laughed, and Holly let her go. The bloated buoyant blond floated up into the air once again, the wind pushing her gently against the branches of a tree.

POP! Holly blinked at the loud noise, and suddenly something draped itself over her like a heavy quilt, making her fall to the ground. Squirming her still-swollen body around underneath it, she pulled it off to find Allison staring back at her with a look of surprise.

“I guess that tree didn’t like me,” she said, and Holly looked at the flat, crumpled form of her deflated friend. Allison’s round body was completely limp, except for her hands and feet, which wiggled uselessly, and her head, which looked quite ridiculous attached to what looked like an empty weather balloon.

“Don’t worry, Allison,” said Holly reassuringly, laying her friend out flat and starting to fold her up like a quilt. “We’ll patch you up and get you back in the air. You think you could hold a bit more in there?”

“Sure, why?”

“I was thinking of starting up hot air ballooning. Maybe helium could be a good substitute…”

They made quite a pair, the two of them, one girl naked except for her socks and hugely swollen, the other rolled up like a sleeping bag with a head, as they headed down the valley to find the nearest road…