Souvenir for Cornelia, A

The letter read:

Cornelia sweetie,

Really wish that you could have gone on Wonka's factory tour with me. I've never had such a fabulous experience! Complete sensory titillation! Edibles everywhere. But would I forget my best friend in the whole world? Not a chance! What you'll find enclosed in my little note here is the single most fabulous piece of chewable pleasure you'll ever experience! And wait till you start to feel the 'side effects'. Man, talk about explosive! I'm also sending you a little present that you'll get a real bang out of. Only, don't open that package until after you've begun enjoying your treat. This is just about guaranteed to make you as famous as me, sweetie!

Love ya!
Violet

Cornelia Prinzmetel had waited until her mother left for her bridge game to open Violet's package and letter, and this had certainly sparked her interest. She had been green with envy when Violet had found that golden ticket in the Wonka bar, and then Violet had rubbed it in on television! Ooooo! Just thinking about it made her shake with anger.

Turning the rectangular honey colored piece of gum over in her fingers, she couldn't see anything special about it. And why had Violet suddenly gone from a blabbing know-it-all to such a generous person? Cornelia shrugged it off, and held the gum to her lips. She paused. Perhaps that trip to Mr. Wonka's factory had a profound effect on Violet. Cornelia remembered back to Violet mentioning that Mr. Slugworth, and how he had promised to pay big money for the secret recipe for Wonka's Ever-lasting Gobstoppers. As competitive as Violet had always been, she just couldn't see her betraying Mr. Wonka like that. Maybe Violet had learned something from Mr. Wonka about how to deal with one's competitors. Shrugging the whole mess off with a smile, Cornelia popped the gum in her mouth and began to chew.

She reached for the little plain brown wrapped package that accompanied the letter, and stopped short when she began to actually taste the gum. She could barely believe it! She was tasting and smelling tomato soup. Real tomato soup. She would have opened her mouth to take the gum out and look at it, but she was afraid that soup would come spurting out all over the carpet. It almost scalded her tongue it was so hot.

Just as she got the brown wrapping paper undone and was beginning to open the box, the taste in her mouth changed. She inhaled hard to see if she could smell as well as taste roast beef, smothered in gravy. And a baked potato to boot! What shocked her the most is that these tastes were just flowing over her tongue and right down her throat. She wasn't even having to swallow! And when she did swallow the saliva from chewing the gum so vigorously, she expected to feel the lumps of food, but she didn't. She was completely amazed. Violet had been so right, she mused, as she removed the small object from it's box.

How weird, was her first thought. What in the world am I supposed to do with this? Is it one of those little modern art sculptures? Had she been looking in the mirror on her dresser instead of at the little "present" in her hand, she would have been thoroughly upset. Her face was a deep purple-ish blue. When her hands began to turn colors as well, she stopped chomping on the now blueberry pie tasting gum, and gripped the present tighter.

"What in the world?!" she exclaimed out loud. Still holding her present in one hand, she looked her hand over and over. She had been chilly, but it wasn't so cold she should be turning blue... never mind such a dark blue! She saw it before she actually felt it, so into examining her odd skin coloration was Cornelia. Her belly was swelling outward under her baby-doll mini dress. She dropped her present when she gasped, to grab hold of her belly with both hands, and try to push it back into shape. The little golden spike on the trophy-style mouth landed right side up on it's stand.

Still trying like mad to push her stomach, chest and legs back into shape, Cornelia began screaming for help. Her cries were completely useless, as nobody was home. Presently, she had to stop trying to push herself back into place, because she was no longer able to bend her arms in that direction. They had become swollen and stiff, splitting the sleeves of the mini-dress just as the side seams of the dress began to give way. Her body cavity was swelling so quickly-it was forcing her legs apart, and she soon fell over backward onto her rounded backside from the shift in her gravitational center.

She tried to roll herself over, but she was swelling so fast that her rocking actions were futile. She just lay there rolling back and forth, and watching her body become round, feeling herself swell outward in every direction. She gasped with a bit of relief when her training bra and panties finally gave up their valiant effort to cover their respective body parts, as they had been squeezing her. She balled her hands into fists, and shook them in frustration. "I swear, Violet Beauregaurde! You'll be sorry you did this!" Cornelia had more pressing things on her mind (and virtually every other part of her body) than revenge against Violet as the walls of her little room were becoming just too confining. Was she going to just keep growing and growing? Did it stop after a while? Perhaps the walls would just give way. Her spherical form had already pushed the bed and dresser as far against the walls as possible, and still her inflated body pressed hard against them.

And speaking of pressing, she really wished that she could reach her... well, it would have been the side of her belly right above her right hip, were she not so completely round. It rather itched, and something was poking her... If color could have drained from her face it would have. She flapped her arms against the firm sides of her stomach and kicked her feet, as if that would help. Tighter and tighter her skin became, stretched over the pressure of the hundreds of gallons of blueberry juice building inside of her. She held her breath as if that would help her suck in her circular belly, and keep from pressing harder against the golden spike, but before she could finish the hopeful thought... POP!

Violet pulled her bicycle up outside the Prinzmetel home just as the TV news van was arriving. The wall of Cornelia's room that had the window was completely blown away, as well as half the ceiling. Detectives and firemen stepped their way through the blue goo with care, sifting and looking for anything that hadn't been destroyed by what they assumed to be a bomb of sorts. A newsman rushed at Violet with his microphone extended.

"Did you know Cornelia Prinzmetel?" Violet shrugged, happily chomped her gum and batted her eyes at the newsman.

"I told Cornelia she was gonna be famous some day!"