Unusual Favor, An

When Yrgthlax came through the interdimensional rift a few years ago, it was Amelia with whom he had made first contact, albeit accidentally. (But that’s another story.) Instead of freaking and calling the cops, however, she befriended him, educated him on human culture, and helped him blend into society so he could observe humans. In exchange for Amelia’s generosity, Yrgthlax offered her ten supernatural favors to use at any time. She had already cashed in on several; the rest she was saving for later in her life. But she’d have to burn one sooner than that.

Bethany Brooks was a super-housewife, so appalingly cute, disgustingly domestic, and good at all things crafty. Naturally, based on the designs she’d posted on Facebook, Bethany was a favorite to win this year’s neighborhood jack-o-lantern contest… again. She was not too stuck up, though, and eagerly obliged when Amelia asked her for help on her jack-o-lantern. But Amelia became incensed when her rival was offering up inferior advice, holding back better ideas for the betterment of her own contest entry. Once she was convinced that Bethany was mailing it in, she silently called in another favor of Yrgthlax.

“I don’t feel so good,” Bethany said, leaning over the picnic table in Amelia’s backyard where they were cutting pumpkins.

“Do you need some water?” Amelia asked.

“No, I just need to sit—” Bethany trailed off as her shorts tightened. Then her shirt. “What’s happening to me?”

Bethany’s stomach swelled rapidly, followed by her breasts. In mere seconds she could not reach around her waist. Then her thighs plumped like hot dogs on a grill, straining her shorts even more. Her breasts bulged out the top and bottom of her shirt, stretching the fabric thin and eventually bursting seams. Soon Bethany was growing all over, blowing out the waist of her shorts thanks to her butt blossoming several sizes bigger. Her bra met its end soon thereafter, not that it was really covering anything anyway.

“Don’t just stand there!” Bethany shouted at Amelia. “Do something! Call 911!”

But Amelia just stood and watched. “This is truly much stranger to watch than I expected.”

“What does that mean?!” Bethany’s hips had flared outward several feet and her panties couldn’t contain her equatorial waistline any longer. “You did this??”

Amelia didn’t respond.

Bethany’s arms and legs were steadily getting shorter and fatter. Those were finally absorbed by her body as she kept growing in all directions, then her breasts followed suit as she continued expanding. She was not perfectly round; she was considerably more stout, wider than she was tall.

As Bethany’s form began to tease the second story windows, her hands and feet disappeared as her neck was absorbed, and her skin took on an orange tint. Longitudinal ridges gradually formed all over her body. “Help! HELP!” Bethany cried as her flesh bulged around her head. As she pleaded for help, her tongue began to grow outward from her mouth, impeding her ability to enunciate. Her tongue grew longer and fatter, turning a greenish-brown color. As her head sank further into her body and was completely engulfed, her tongue protruded outward a couple feet and became brittle. The rest of her skin became thick and leathery before she finally stopped growing.

In less than a minute, Bethany had been transformed into a pumpkin more than double Amelia’s height.

Amelia walked over and knocked on the side of her giant new gourd. It felt firm and sounded hollow, perfect for making a jack-o-latern. Except now it didn’t matter how lame Amelia’s design was; she could be as unoriginal as anyone and still win because of her jack-o-lantern’s sheer size. Standing back to visualize her jack-o-lantern’s face, she walked to her husband’s tool shed and returned a few moments later, ladder over her shoulder and carrying a chainsaw. Reaching the pumpkin’s side, she pulled the cord on the chainsaw and plunged it into the side of the pumpkin. As she withdrew it, pumpkin seeds flew everywhere. Amelia sighed. “Here comes the messy part.”