Until the Last Breath

(or, “Two Worlds on a String”)

The pretty young blonde blew yet another bubble with her bubblegum, and it was the biggest one yet. Behind her large, thick-rimmed glasses, Cindy’s pretty brown eyes widened as she looked at her masterpiece, a flawlessly round pink bubble growing from her full, glossy lips. The bubble grew and grew as she gently puffed, until it finally swelled so large that it blocked her vision. It grew as large as her face, then her entire head. She tried to suppress her giggling. Finally, she blew again, and the bubble gently popped on her face. She laughed aloud, peeling the remnants from her lovely face, replacing it into her mouth; and, with a snapping sound, she began chewing it to begin the process anew.

The sound made Blake wince, even though he couldn’t see the spectacle. But he could tell from the noise and Cindy’s giggling that she was popping bubblegum, and it made him nervous.

Because all it did was remind him that he was Cindy’s balloon.

Not that he needed to be reminded. He floated in the air above her, bobbing slightly when a breeze passed. His body was nothing but a gossamer globe, a circular ball of air, a toy balloon that was once a typical American male. But all that remained of that male was his pudgy head sticking out on top, and his plump hands and feet, which were now merely stubs. Around what had been his ankle was a string, tied securely in place, and which Cindy held with casual care. Occasionally, if she tugged the string just so, he could look down at his lovely captor. But usually, Blake just hovered in the air, looking at treetops, rooftops, and blue sky.

Until, in his peripheral vision, Blake saw another human balloon.

Jordan bounced comically in the air as his string was jerked mercilessly around. Like Blake, he too was a huge balloon tied to a string. Unlike Blake, he was tied by what had been his wrist, causing him to face ever downward at his pretty young master. Her name was Heather, and the freckle-faced, pony-tailed redhead skipped to the bus stop in her sexy schoolgirl outfit, which consisted of a short plaid skirt that showed off her athletic legs, and a low-cut white boys’ shirt, complete with a loosely tied black tie that hung carelessly in front of her well-developed, lightly freckled cleavage.

Heather’s heart-shaped, pouty lips always made it appear that she was angry about something, and this scene was no different. As she pulled her helpless balloon toy around, she stopped occasionally to give him a sudden, angry jerk of his string, sending him flailing uncontrollably in the air. It seemed perfectly timed to remind him of just who was in charge, and it always worked. She seemed content--as much as she could do--at her last string pull, and continued her skip to where Cindy was standing.

“Hey.” Heather greeted Cindy in her normal tone of voice, which is to say, she sounded kinda pissy.

Unmoved, Cindy just said, “Mmm.” Her lips were already busy blowing another bubble. It grew large, though not as large as before, popping as it reached just over the top of her glasses and settling on her perfectly symmetrical little nose.

Heather looked up at Cindy’s balloon-boy. The she swung her own balloon-boy so that Blake and Jordan batted into each other, bouncing off each other like beach balls, sending each one into a wild fit of wobbling.

“My balloon’s bigger than yours,” Heather said, as matter-of-factly as she could muster; but of course, her naturally annoyed tone made it come out as a challenge.

Cindy peered upwards at the two balloon-boys. “So he is,” she conceded. Strictly to make conversation, she added, “But then, I didn’t blow up my balloon as big as I could have done.”

“Really?” Heather said, with just a hint of skepticism that sounded like a heap of it. “You could make your balloon as big as mine?”

“Probably much bigger,” Cindy said carelessly, with a mild shrug.

Heather looked up at Cindy’s balloon again. “Oh, you should TOTALLY do that,” she said, her eyes still focused on Blake as she spoke. “You should totally blow him up bigger.”

Blake did not like the progression of this conversation. Neither did Jordan, who intimately knew Heather’s competitive nature and felt his insides grow hollow--which was quite a feat, since he was mostly just air already.

Cindy blew another bubble as she tugged on the string, pulling Blake down from the air and bringing him closer to her pretty, bespectacled face. The bubble popped as Blake approached, making him internally wince. He didn’t need any reminders of his fragile state. He still wasn’t sure if she just loved bubblegum, or if it were part of his psychological torture.

Cindy took out the gum with her free hand and tossed it into the street. With the string wrapped firmly around her wrist, she brought Blake’s puffy face close to hers. She smelled sweetly of perfume and bubblegum, a wondrous aroma that, despite the danger, Blake enjoyed being near. Her hands clasped his bloated cheeks, her light blonde hair brushed against his forehead, her glasses pressed into his nose as she brought her lips to his mouth.

And she blew.

His body felt tingly all over, the enormous air pressure feeling orgasmic as his round body stretched out even farther. He felt so tight, tight as a drum, as his body surged in growth, her warm, sweet-smelling breath causing him to get noticeably larger. He grew so tight, so taut, that he felt his bursting was imminent.

Heather laughed.

Blake’s growth ceased, and for a brief moment, Cindy pulled away to admire her handiwork. She looked him over and ran a hand over his inflated form--which he had to admit, felt pretty sensual. But he felt so unbearably full, he could barely appreciate her soft touch. Even now, as she just held him, he felt so tight that he could spontaneously burst at any moment.

It seemed to happen in slow motion: Cindy’s eyes closed. Her mouth opened. Blake couldn’t believe it: She was going to make him BIGGER.

Or she was going to try to. If he didn’t burst.

The air slammed into him, down what would have been his throat, if his neck hadn’t become part of his ballooned body a long time ago. He closed his eyes and waited for the bang.

But instead, he just felt himself get bigger. A lot bigger. Behind his closed eyes, he saw the image of Cindy’s laughing face, holding onto a string that held only a burst balloon fragment. It was his imagination, of course; yet it seemed increasingly real as his body inflated precipitously toward his bursting point.

This is it, he thought. I’m going to pop.

And then Cindy’s breath petered out. He opened his eyes to see Cindy and Heather smiling up at him.

“Wow,” Heather said, with genuine warmth this time. “He’s SOOOO big.”

“See?” said Cindy, holding Blake closer to Jordan. “My balloon’s bigger now.”

“Not for long,” said Heather playfully, though her voiced tinged with obvious menace. She pulled on her string, hauling Jordan down from the sky to meet with those luscious, heart-shaped lips. Jordan had only a brief moment to enjoy his lips touching hers before her breath entered him, causing him to expand dangerously outward.

Jordan knew it was only a matter of time before Heather tired of him and popped him. But to pop like this: in some girlish, immature game! To burst into nothingness because of Heather’s incessant one-upmanship! It was too humiliating to bear.

The pressure increased inside him, unbearably so. He felt the all-too-familiar rush of Heather’s breath, pushing him to larger and larger sizes. He tensed--easy to do, as his body was about as tight as it could get--waiting for the inevitable. His world was nothing more than Heather’s breath and his inflation. There was no world beyond Heather’s sexy mouth.

As she paused for breath, he looked at her beautiful young freckled face. Her eyes were still closed, either in pleasure or in anticipation of a sudden loud noise, or both. She licked her big wet lips and blew into him again. And again. And again!

Each time, Jordan felt for sure it would be the last breath. And yet he got tighter, his body surged bigger, ever expanding until he almost wished he would burst so he’d be free of the suspense. Free of Heather’s taunting, her supreme dominance. Free from the air pressure that was pushing on all sides of him, making him bigger than he dreamed possible.

And then it stopped. Jordan couldn’t see just how big he’d become, but he could feel it. He was giant, enormous, blimp-sized. “Now that’s big!” said Heather with a giggle.

Cindy’s jaw remained slack as she looked over her friend’s balloon-boy. “Oh my god, he’s HUGE! That’s the biggest balloon I ever saw!”

“Look!” said Heather, pointing. “He’s bigger than that tree.”

Cindy pulled Blake closer to her mouth again. “Mine’s going to be bigger than a mountain!”

The two girls caught each other’s eyes, which all sparkled.

They said it in unison: “BIGGER THAN THE WORLD!”

They giggled profusely before setting to the task of blowing up their balloons. Cindy and Heather each puffed, puffed, PUFFED up their balloon-boys--their balloon-toys--puffing with speed and fervor as their shapely chests heaved. Their balloons expanded again and again, reaching sizes that few balloons could ever reach.

As Cindy continued to blow air into him, it suddenly dawned on Blake that his growth had slowed to a crawl. Was he even getting bigger? He didn’t think so: He’d become so full that he’d reached his limits. There was nowhere for the air to go. Nowhere but out. And yet Cindy persisted, blowing ceaselessly, repeatedly. Forcefully. Purposefully. And so, while he ceased growing, the pressure still built and built and built and...

BANG-ANG-ANG-ANG-ANG!!

The explosion seemed to echo into another state.

Cindy’s empty string fell limply to the ground.

A moment passed before she and Heather burst out laughing.

“Did you HEAR that?!” Cindy asked, even though it was obvious that people had heard it for blocks around.

Jordan, for his part, swayed side-to-side in the breeze, the explosion of the nearby balloon sending him on another bobbing spree. He’d grown so impossibly large that he no longer even had what used to resemble his head: He now had just a “neck”--as in the neck of a balloon that was about to burst.

“I win!” exclaimed Heather.

“Yep, too bad for my balloon. He just EXPLODED!” She threw back her hands to imitate the shock wave. They focused their attention on Jordan. “He looks like he’ll burst any second.”

“Yeah, he’s about to pop, all right,” Heather said breathlessly, winded from her successful effort to make her balloon the biggest around. She ever so gently traced her fingernail over Jordan’s tight, fragile skin.

“How are you going to get him on the bus?” Cindy asked.

“Oh, yeah!” Heather laughed heartily. “He’s actually BIGGER than the bus!”

“I wonder just how big he can get!” Cindy speculated aloud.

Again Jordan had that bad premonition.

“Let’s find out,” Heather said, almost musically. To Cindy’s surprise, Heather handed her balloon-boy to her. “Let’s play Balloon Roulette. You blow, then I blow, then you blow. The first one to pop him wins!”

“I get to go first, eh?” Cindy asked, taking Heather’s giant, dangerously inflated toy balloon from her hands.

Jordan believed it was impossible for him to get any bigger, but there was Cindy, taking the deepest breath she could possibly take.

And Jordan DID get bigger. Cindy’s breath seemed to last forever, and he felt himself stretch farther into the sky. But much like Blake, Jordan’s growth was slight at best. He was too full to grow more. It was just a matter of when the pressure would catch up to him.

Cindy’s breath finally stopped. She handed the balloon-boy to Heather, who looked maliciously at Jordan. He was stretched so gossamer, his skin had such a polished sheen on it, Heather could see her beautiful reflection. She took the deepest, most competitive breath she could, and she blew.

Jordan, uncannily, survived that breath, as he did Cindy’s next attempt. But he knew how the game was supposed to end: One of these girls was going to pop him.

Would it be Heather? Or Cindy? Which girl would cause him to burst?

Which girl would blow the last breath?

Each time, he knew that each breath the girls blew could be the last.

Until finally... one of them did.