Not-so-Little Red

Not-so-Little Red

Not-so-Little Red

I

Red was in a jam. Or, more literally, a jamb. The young woman—whom no one called Little Red anymore—was trapped in the window in her mother‘s cottage that led to her bedroom. The dilemma was entirely of Red’s own making. As a young woman several years into adulthood, she should’ve been out in the village, looking for a marriage match or learning a trade. She might even have moved in with her beloved grandmother, who lived somewhat deeper in the Wood, helping her out with this and that, slyly assisting her in her old age. But alas, Red was not an ambitious woman. She preferred sleeping to working, preferred sitting to walking, and preferred snacking to nearly everything else.

As a girl, Red had accompanied her mother on visits to her grandmother’s cabin. They brought food and treats, as it was quite a journey from the cabin all the way into the village. When Red grew old enough to venture into the Wood by herself, she took up the weekly trips on her own. Red’s grandmother, being a kind and nurturing old woman, shared much of her daughter’s cooking and baking with her granddaughter.

Over time, Red began helping herself to the basket’s goodies during the long walk. Eventually, she found there weren’t enough sweets and snacks to last the entire trek, and she stopped visiting her grandmother altogether. She’d walk just far enough into the Wood to reach a nice clearing just out of her mother’s earshot. There, she’d feast on her basket of treats until its entire contents were emptied between her lips and the buttons on her dress strained across her tummy while she napped in the dappled sun.

One day, Red’s mother got wise to her larcenous lunches, putting her on a strict diet of carrots and water. So distraught and deprived was Red that she attempted to flee her mother’s tyranny through her bedroom window. Unfortunately, having fed herself so well on her grandmother’s baskets—and the plentiful meals her mother used to make—Red’s hips and bottom were far too voluminous for her eager egress.

It was this sorry state in which the Wolf found Red. Her mother having left her to suffer the consequences of her excesses, Red pleaded with Wolf for help. But Wolf, who from time to time made a meal of human flesh, saw great potential in Red. She was already far from deserving of the epithet “Little,” and if she had the appetite which her plentitude suggested, Wolf suspected it would take scant effort at all to fatten her up properly.

Red could not fit outside, and Wolf made a convincing enough performance for her to believe she couldn’t squeeze back the way she’d come. Thus lodged, Red resolved to follow her mother’s advice and diet her way to freedom. Surely it would only take a few days, perhaps a week, of starving herself on carrots and water to slim down enough to slip back into her bedroom. But Wolf, and Red’s own irrepressible appetite, had other ideas.

Before Wolf had even returned from inside the house, Red was begging him to bring her something to eat. When she finished both her mother’s omelette and a small cake Wolf found in the fridge, Red was still ravenous. Wolf grinned as he fled the return of Red’s mother—this was going to be easier than he’d hoped. Soon enough, Red would carry enough meat to feed him for a week, perhaps longer.

From that day on, Wolf raided shops and houses, hauling a steady supply of pilfered food to his flourishing future feast. Whenever Red’s mother was away, Wolf delivered full meals and a sack of treats kept hidden from sight while he was away, in case he was late returning. Or if Red got hungry. Or felt a bit peckish. Or was simply bored.

Red’s willpower was as weak as her gullibility was strong. Wolf brought larger and larger meals, encouraging Red’s delusions by congratulating her on how much was left over. Any day now, Red would be trim enough to escape that window. She’d run all the way to her grandmother’s cabin, where she’d be doted on and fed proper meals. After all, she was still on her mother’s carrot and water diet—Wolf’s snacks were trifles to take the edge off, a nibble or three to keep her from going mad with hunger.

Of course, Red did not slim down. Under Wolf’s attentive pampering, her insatiable stomach augmented her dimensions until even she could no longer deny it. She hardened her resolve, promising herself to only eat a few bites of whatever Wolf brought her next.

Once again, it took only a few tempting words from Wolf and a whiff of chocolate for Red’s willpower to crumple like the cookie she shoved into her mouth whole. Red’s mother had gotten desperate, omitting even the carrots from her meals. But Wolf was there every day, with delicious food, comforting words, warm touches on her heavy belly, and assurances that she could always start her diet tomorrow.

***

The days became weeks, with Red growing ever more constricted and constrained by her shrinking bedroom window. Wolf continued to bring her gorgeous, redolent meals, and her desperation to be free faded to the faintest whisper against the thunderous roar of her appetite. Sure, being stuck in a window wasn’t ideal, but what was a mild inconvenience like immobility when she had Wolf?

Wolf, who brought her more food than she could eat for every meal! Okay, technically, the meals seemed to get less fulfilling by the day…

He also brought treats to fill her hidden bag; she had snacks within reach every waking moment! Granted, the bag was always empty before he returned, so she fell asleep hungry more and more often…

But it was fine, she was fine! So what if she was stuck? So what if the window seemed to squeeze tighter each morning? So what if her tummy and bosom were getting so big she sometimes felt grass tickling at her belly button? So what if her mother looked at her with increasing bewilderment by the day?

One morning, Red woke to find her side of the cottage surrounded by a tall fence.

“What the…?”

“Good. You’re awake.”

Red’s mother stood outside the fence with her arms crossed. The posture showed a somewhat softer figure than Red remembered, a fuller bosom and rounder tummy. While nothing to compare with the size of her daughter, she clearly hadn’t deprived herself of Red’s share of her cooking and baking.

“Mom, what is this!?” Red demanded.

“It’s for your own good.”

“What?? That’s what you said about the carrots and water, and you haven’t even given me that for weeks! Do you want your daughter to starve?”

Her mother laughed derisively. “What nonsense. Anyone with eyes can see that you aren’t starving. Why, you’re gaining weight faster than ever!”

“But mom… Where did this fence even come from?”

“The woodcutter built it while you were asleep.”

“You called the woodcutter over here? Why didn’t you just have him cut me out??”

“Fah. So you can go waddling into the Wood and get eaten by the Big Bad Wolf? No, Red. People don’t get fatter just by breathing. You’ve been getting food from somewhere, and I’m putting a stop to it.”

“But I have to eat something!”

Her mother smirked. She produced a key from the neckline of her dress and unlocked the gate. She set a tray in front of Red: a plate of carrots and a glass of water. “There. You’re not going to starve, so spare me your histrionics.”

Though determined to hold onto her outrage, Red thought of Wolf and all the delicious goodies he couldn’t get to her now. Fat tears welled in her eyes, and she sniffled despite herself.

Locking the gate and dropping the key into her bosom, Red’s mother said, not unkindly, “You’ll thank me, someday.”

After her mother left for work, Red heard Wolf rustle through the tall grass at the edge of the Wood. The plate in front of her was empty—the thought of never tasting another pie or roast chicken again had distressed her so that she’d gnawed away every last bland carrot through her tears.

“Oh no, Red, what’s wrong?” Wolf dragged his sacks with Red’s breakfast and snacks up to the fence, poking his snout between the slats. Only then did he seem to notice the newly constructed barrier between himself and his beneficiary. “What’s this then?”

“Mom put it up so she can starve me!” Red cried.

“Seriously? Has she gone completely mad?”

“Well, sniff, she did give me some gross old carrots…”

This was a disaster. Wolf could already imagine the rich, marbled flesh he’d worked so hard to grow melting away as Red withered in this gaol. She’d be all alone, in the depths of boredom and despair. He’d never be able to visit her, or talk with her, or see the happy smiles on her pretty face as she stuffed it with food. Red’s mother had gone too far this time. This aggression could not stand.

“Maybe I can climb it.”

Wolf clamped his bags in his jaw and rushed at the fence. He leapt as high as he could, scrabbling at the cedar planks with his claws. Far short of the crest, gravity caught up with him, and he slid to the dirt.

“It’s too high!” Red wailed.

“Maybe…” Wolf dropped the sacks and tried again. He got a few inches higher, but it wasn’t enough.

“Well, what good is me getting over if I have to leave your food behind?” Wolf mused.

“It’s no use! I’m going to starve to death!” Red shuddered with sobs; her breasts heaved and her belly quaked. Her wails nearly drowned out the faint creaking of the wall and window engirdling her.

Wolf grabbed one of the sacks and spun, swinging it in several circles before flinging it at the fence. It flew higher than either of his attempts to jump, but at the last moment, the burlap snagged on the pointed tip of a cedar picket. The bag twisted upside-down, hanging for a few moments until its knot came undone. A shower of roasted chicken, blocks of cheese, muffins, apple pies, and more crashed to the ground. A bottle of milk collided with a jug of cider, forming a muddy puddle that spread under the fence, still well out of Red’s reach.

“NOOoooo!!!”

Red’s caturwauling reached a fever pitch. She ranted and babbled incoherently, slamming her fists and flailing her tree trunk legs inside the house. The creaking grew louder. Bits of the window frame splintered and cracked, sending wooden shards in a spray around Red’s love handles. Her body shook and heaved. Belly, hips, bottom, every part of her had been pampered and fed until she’d grown well beyond what the simple structure could bear. Framing snapped, siding split, and Red’s overfed form tumbled out in an avalanche of building materials.

“Holy…” Wolf breathed.

Red rolled onto her fat-swaddled knees, her breasts wobbling toward the ground as she lay propped on her belly. She worked one foot under her, then the other, slowly hoisting herself upright.

“You’re…” Wolf hadn’t seen Red’s lower half since he first found her stuck, months ago. Her upper half had become his dearest companion: all magnificent breasts, sumptuous arms, and glorious, capacious belly—to say nothing of her plump, perfect face. But now… Now he saw thighs like oaks, lavish hips, and a rump more bounteous than he could have imagined. Even her calves were larger than her thighs had been, hiding all but her toes in perfect plushness.

“You’re b—”

“I’m free!” Red cheered. “But… But I’m still…”

She lumbered toward the fence. Wolf felt tremors in the ground with each of Red’s heavy footfalls. Her jubilance crashed back to despair within two steps. “I’m still trapped!”

Fresh tears welled in Red’s eyes as she grabbed the tall fence. Her bounteous body heaved as she pulled and pushed against the barrier in frustration. “Now I’ll never get out!”

Of course, what Red lacked in physical fitness, she more than made up for in well-fed mass. The fence’s posts shifted the second time she rocked back. At the third, the ground around them bulged and cracked. Oblivious to the efficacy of her tantrum, Red threw herself at the fence, and even the freshly constructed edifice was no match for her bulk.

Rails snapped, pickets shattered, and posts were felled in eruptions of dirt as Red bowled down the barricade. Her rotund body rolled to Wolf’s waiting feet, where he helped her right herself.

“Yipee, I’m free!” Red whooped, grabbing Wolf into a tight hug as she spun with glee.

Wolf had given Red many friendly touches since they’d met. Feeling the progress of her plumping body kept him motivated to skulk and scour the area for her feed. But he’d never been pressed against her like this. His torso sank into her belly, his head buried between her breasts, her plush arms squeezing him close. Wolf felt surrounded on all sides by her, and it was glorious. He couldn’t wait to taste her.

Their celebration was cut short by a powerful rumble of Red’s stomach. Wolf dropped to his feet with a sheepish grin, taking in the scattered contents of Red’s breakfast.

“Some of it’s still good!” She said, bending to reach a meat pie wrapped in paper.

Seeing her struggle—after taking a beat to appreciate what the movement did to her bottom—Wolf gathered the meat pie and handed it to her.

Red dropped to her well-padded rump and gobbled the pie with moans of delight. “It’s so much nicer eating like this.”

Wolf collected anything unspoiled from the ground, happy to be feeding his precious pet once again. Within minutes, however, nothing worth eating remained, and Red was eyeing the second bag.

“We might as well open this, too,” Wolf said. “After all you’ve been through this morning.”

Wolf’s words seemed to remind Red of her situation, even as she stuffed a proffered muffin into her mouth. “What am I going to do when Mom gets back?”

Wolf had a solution which would suit him perfectly, but he didn’t want to overplay his hand.

“I could go stay with Grandma…”

“Doesn’t your grandmother live deep in the Wood?”

“It’s not that far to walk.”

Wolf bit back a remark on Red’s current walking pace. “Isn’t that the first place your mother would come looking?”

“True…” Red munched a donut while drumming her fingers on the swell of her belly. “And Grandma’s cabin is kind of small…”

“Well,” Wolf began, with feigned nonchalance, “I guess you could hide at my place until you figure something out…”

Red realized suddenly that she was talking to The Wolf. The “Big, Bad” Wolf. Surely he was luring her to his den for nefarious reasons. He wanted to eat her, and this was his chance.

On the other hand, Wolf had been nothing but kind and helpful the whole time she’d known him. He talked to her, he brought her yummy food, and fixed the bench in her room so she’d be comfortable. He even rubbed her tummy when she got a bit greedy and gobbled up too much food.

Wolf wasn’t a monster. He was her friend. Maybe her only friend. More of a friend than her mean old mom, that’s for sure. Red reached out her eager fingers, only to find Wolf holding the snack bag upside down, nothing but crumbs tumbling out. Red’s lower lip quivered as fresh tears began forming.

“Did I mention…” Wolf said slowly. “That there’s more food in my cave?”

“There is??”

“Sure. I can’t carry it all in one trip, after all.”

Red heaved herself to her chubby feet. “Let’s go.”

Not-so-Little Red

II

The walk from Red’s house to Wolf’s cave was not a far one; Wolf himself made the journey in just under an hour several times a day. And yet, once the adrenaline-fueled fervor of Red’s temper tantrum abated, the burden of her ponderous proportions had come crashing down on her in ounces and pounds, in omelets and muffins.

Over two hours after they left her mother’s house, with its collapsed fence and gaping wall, Red panted, wheezed, and whined as she took another laborious, waddling step.

“Haaa haaaa… How much farther?“

“Not long now,” Wolf said. “I’ve got a whole sack of donuts waiting for you.“

Wolf hadn’t been keeping track, but he could tell Red’s steps were getting slower and slower. He was pretty sure she could eat an entire donut in the time that passed between each of her lumbering footfalls—possibly even two.

At long last, a low rocky bluff came into view.

“Is, is that it??“ Red asked excitedly, gulping bushels of air.

“That’s it.“

Red’s fatigue melted away in a moment. Incredibly, she hopped on her fat toes, creating tremors Wolf felt in the pads of his feet.

“Finally,“ Red cheered. “Now I can finish my breakfast!“

Wolf bit back an observation that it was far closer to lunchtime and followed Red as she waddled toward the cave mouth.

“Where’s the entrance? I’m starving.”

“Just to your left.”

Wolf’s home was a natural cave, cozy and dry, and more spacious than one would expect from the size of its opening in the bluff. The entrance was more than wide enough for Wolf’s own muscular frame—and the sacks of food he often carried—to slip in and out with ease. When he’d made the snap decision to lure Red to his home, the question of whether she’d fit through the roomy tunnel hadn’t entered his mind. But now that her inflated form waddled toward that very tunnel, now that he could see both his front doorway and Red’s voluptuous backside, Wolf began to worry.

She pushed aside a cluster of vines over the cave mouth, and Wolf exhaled. Despite the breadth of Red’s indulgence, the entrance was wider still.

Red seemed less convinced. “It looks awfully small…“

“It’ll be fine,“ Wolf lied. “You fit through that tiny little window, right?“

They were both silent for a moment, contemplating the absurdity of this statement.

Wolf laid a comforting hand on Red’s shoulder, resisting the impulse to squeeze the pliant flesh beneath his digits. “It’s bigger on the inside. Now go on in—I’m sure you’re dying to sit down and relax after walking all the way here. I’m pretty sure I even have a pie or two.“

At the mention of pie, Red’s trepidation melted like sugar crystals on the tongue. She surged into the tunnel so quickly that Wolf had to bound after her. Being a natural stone formation, however, the passage was not of a uniform width. Wolf had simply never noticed that the tunnel tapered down to its narrowest point just before opening into the main chamber of his home.

As he padded after Red’s booming steps, Wolf didn’t realize his plump companion had stopped until he collided with her plush form. Red let out a gentle squeak as her hips caught on the tunnel walls and then a squawk as Wolf crashed into her backside, jostling her through the choke point with a soft pop.

True to his word, the main chamber of Wolf’s home was spacious indeed—easily twice the size of Red’s entire bedroom back at her mother’s cottage. She spread her wobbling arms wide and spun in one slow, tottering twirl. Every part of her rippled and sloshed like a collection of balloons pumped with pudding. Wolf’s breath caught in his throat as something tightened in his belly.

Red flopped onto a pile of soft furs, barely feeling the fall between the padded surface and her more-padded bottom. She sighed as she let her screaming legs go limp. The walk had been so far, much farther than when she was pretending to take a basket to her grandma. Her mother used to pack such yummy food in those baskets. Though she’d been cruelly strict lately, she was actually a fantastic chef. A merciless hunger raged through Red like a storm.

It took every scrap of Red’s feeble self-control to keep her voice steady. “So…?”

Wolf’s face looked strange. He stared at her with such wide pupils that his eyes were almost completely black. Red was too ravenous to be scared.

“Um… Wolf?”

He blinked slowly, then shook himself in a decidedly canine manner. When he looked at her again, his eyes seemed back to normal. “What is it, my sna— My sweet?”

Red reached her heavy arms over her billowing belly—Why did it seem so big now?—and touched her index fingers together. “You said something about pie…?”

Wolf ran a paw over his snout and through the shaggy fur atop his head. “Goodness, where are my manners? You sit tight; I shall return with refreshments post haste.”

He ducked through a narrow opening into a cave that sat lower underground than the main chamber. It was cooler than the other rooms, making it the perfect place to store food. Though it had taken more and more food to keep Red from noticing how much she was eating, there were only a few times in the day when Wolf could get to her without her mother catching them. Undeterred in his quest, Wolf had continued looting and pilfering from the village, storing the excess in this very cavern. Bags of fruit and pastries sat between jugs of milk and barrels of sweet honey mead. Stacked boxes held donuts and pies amidst entire cakes and roasts. Wolf grabbed as many pie and donut boxes as he could carry.

Red sat and tried to breathe. Her stomach clenched and roared. Her whole body felt tight and hollow and wrung out. She was freezing—no, she was burning up. The room spun. She inhaled for a count of three, then exhaled for a count of four. She didn’t know what was happening to her, but she did know that if she didn’t get a snack soon, she might explode.

When Wolf returned to the main cavern, he found Red in a twitchy, delirious heap. Her eyes were glassy, and sweat trickled down her chubby cheeks. In a flash, he set down his burden and was at her side, stroking her hair and making shushing sounds. “What is it, Red? What’s happened?”

Wordlessly, Red lifted a trembling hand toward the stack of boxes he’d left on the cave floor, well out of her reach. Her body heaved as she tried to lunge forward. It took Wolf an embarrassing several moments to connect the dots, then he pressed gently on her shoulders.

“Shh, don’t get up.”

Wolf opened the first box on the stack and handed a fruit pie to Red. She lifted the tin to her mouth with one hand, scooping sugary peaches with her fingers. She was making a mess, but she’d been eating without utensils for weeks. In a matter of seconds, she was curling the tin into a funnel to dump the crust and crumbs into her greedy mouth.

A voice in the back of Red’s mind said that she should pace herself, but it was a mouse whispering against a riot mob. She tossed the empty tin aside, licked her fingers, and said, “More.”

Wolf had a box of donuts ready.

***

Some time later—she wasn’t sure quite how long—Red came back to her senses as Wolf was handing her a particularly robust roast chicken. As she tore strips of succulent meat from the bones and stuffed them into her mouth, soft thoughts flitted in and out of her mind.

How long had she been eating? How much had she eaten? How big was that low cave where Wolf kept the food, and was there even anything left in there?

As quickly as each thought appeared, it vanished again. Red found she simply couldn’t bring herself to care. After all that time stuck in that stupid window, she was finally free. Free to indulge to her heart’s content. Without that wooden frame choking her like using a bracelet for a belt, without sore shoulders from lying on her elbows, or an aching back from carrying her unsatisfied belly, Red could eat in comfort again. Already she felt delightfully snug, as if there was a creature inside her, expanding, growing, and her skin was just barely strong enough to hold it in. And the best part was, she still had more to eat. Bite by bite, the chicken hit her tongue, met her teeth, and slid down her throat, where her beast waited with patient eagerness.

Red’s hands slowed, and her eyelids drooped, as the herculean exertions of the day caught up with her. Wolf emerged from his food cave again with two boxes of muffins.

“You look like you could use a nap, my sweet.” He set the boxes on the furs where Red could reach them. “Here’s something for you to nibble on while you’re falling asleep.” He gave her middle a soft pat. Beneath a thick layer of jelly, her stomach was firm as an underripe melon. “I need to go into the village and get you some more food.”

Red watched Wolf scamper into the tunnel. She picked the last bits of meat from her chicken and reached for a muffin. At some point, she’d make a plan. She should probably visit her grandmother, make peace with her mother, and find a proper place to live. She could find a job, maybe find a partner.

Those were goals for Tomorrow Red. Today Red had been through an ordeal and a half. She’d more than earned a lazy, indulgent evening.

***

Of course, it wasn’t one evening. It wasn’t an evening and a morning. It wasn’t even an entire week. Wolf and Red settled into a routine very similar to their old one. He collected, and she ate, in abundance, in both cases.

Red discovered to her surprise that Wolf could read. After she apologized for her prejudice, they read stories together in the snippets of time when Red was full and Wolf wasn’t out pilfering. He got better at judging her moods and mental states, learning when she was too deep in the thrill of her appetite to listen or engage with him over anything but more food. After a dish or two, Red would settle down, and Wolf read to her from a growing collection of storybooks he sometimes found in picnic baskets or left on window ledges.

One day, Red woke from her mid-morning nap before Wolf returned from his food-gathering. He’d found a particularly large collection of pancakes for her breakfast, in addition to donuts, muffins, and other pastries, so she’d been thoroughly replete before her nap. Which, for Red, meant packing herself with food until she felt so tight and stretched that her beast might outgrow her skin—then nibbling on donuts as she drifted off.

Now she was awake. And though the voice of her craving was still drowsy and faint, she could feel it beginning to rouse. Luckily, a box and a half of donuts from her breakfast remained undevoured. Red settled in for a graze while she waited for Wolf to return with her lunch.

In the village, Wolf carefully lowered a pot of roasted potatoes into his sack. It nestled beside a stack of pies, a box of dinner rolls, and three different casseroles. With the harvest festival approaching, the wives of the town were making his special project easier, but he still ran through the list in his head, wishing he’d brought the book with him.

Red was bored. More importantly, Red was out of donuts. She hauled herself to her feet, tottering for a moment as she gained her balance. One large and two not quite so large weights pulled her forward, balanced by the weights dragging her back. She looked around the vast cavern for any other snacks Wolf may have left her. Weirdly, the cave seemed somewhat less vast than it once had. There wasn’t time to ponder that mystery because there wasn’t one solitary pie or chicken or even a muffin in the entire cavern.

Red dropped to all fours, feeling cool stone press against her poor, neglected tummy, and crawled toward the opening where Wolf stored her—their—extra food. It wasn’t very big, but she’d seen him scamper in and out of it hundreds of times, and he was the Big Bad Wolf—surely Little Red could fit through. When her shoulders snagged on the stone, Red twisted to the side, but her plump breasts kept her from getting far enough to even see into the chamber. Well, she was a grown woman now, after all. She’d obviously inherited her mother’s voluptuous figure.

Red stretched one hand into the opening, ignoring the way the stone walls rubbed against her upper arm. She felt around as far as she could reach, but found nothing but cold stone. Withdrawing her arm, she slumped into the furs as her stomach gurgled in frustration. She could do this. She used to wait hours between Wolf’s visits. She just needed to distract herself, that’s all. Red reached for a book Wolf had left nearby.

Wolf nosed a pot of cranberry sauce into his bag. The drawstrings almost wouldn’t close. He’d had to search the entire village and nearly got caught twice, but it had been worth it. He had everything he needed. His bags were the fullest they’d ever been, and his back burned as he started the long walk to his cave.

Red scanned through the pages, flipping them back and forth. She’d seen many of her mother’s cookbooks and almost thought she recognized this one, but Wolf couldn’t cook… could he?

The bookmark was planted in the middle of a feast. A harvest festival feast. Recipes and directions for a myriad of side dishes, share platters, and desserts. The photos and ingredient lists were making Red’s stomach angrier by the moment. Her mouth watered so furiously she nearly drooled on the glossy pages.

But something was wrong.

The centerpiece of the feast was a whole roasted pig.

Could Wolf carry a whole pig? Could he even steal a whole pig without the villagers sending a search party after him? Even if he somehow could manage to burgle a whole pig, how would he ever get it into this cave? The entrance had been a tight squeeze for her, and she was just a chubby young woman—a literal pig would never be able to fit.

Unless…

Red tried to shush the voice of her survival instincts even as it screamed its most reasonable explanation.

The pig was her.

All those days and weeks—surely not months—bringing her food, offering her plate after plate, pies and cakes and cookies and meat, meat, meat! He knew she was weak, knew she couldn’t resist. Her appetite was a beast inside her that she couldn’t leash, couldn’t tame, could barely steer. If Wolf put food in front of her, she would eat it; such was its power over her. He knew that and had taken advantage, sending her past chubby all the way to plump so she could be his own personal harvest festival feast!

For all of Red’s clarity, she was blind to the vast difference between Wolf’s body and her own. She’d grown far beyond the most extravagant feast a single wolf could consume, even a Big Bad one.

She had to get out of here. She’d finally take that trip to her Grandmother’s that she’d failed to do back when this all started. She might even stop by her old home and apologize to her mother. She’d been right—Red’s lack of self-control really had gotten her into trouble.

Red climbed to her feet again, wobbling anxiously toward the cave exit. Her arm slid into the tunnel, then one leg as she turned sideways. She shuffled her pudgy feet, inching herself deeper. Before she’d managed to squeeze even one breast into the opening, Red’s progress halted. She backed up, tried different angles and approaches, but never got any closer to her goal.

Since she’d squeezed herself into Wolf’s home, Red had indulged. She’d guzzled and devoured and gorged until she was well and truly trapped. She took an honest look at her expansive body for the first time in a long time. She’d been beyond chubby, beyond plump, when she’d gotten stuck in that window. She’d been more than fat when Wolf brought her here, and she must have gained at least fifty pounds since then. The number was closer to a hundred, but Red had never been good at math.

Her mother’s voice echoed in her mind. Why, if you get any plumper, you’ll get eaten up by the Big Bad Wolf for sure!

At least she’d never have to hear her mother say “I told you so.”

Not-so-Little Red

III

Wolf plodded between the trees, slowed by the burden of his two overflowing sacks. He’d lost track of the sun in his fervent quest to acquire every relevant side dish and dessert he could find. It was well past midday, and he would doubtless find Red in a blubbering heap, lost in the throes of one of her hunger panics. He pushed through the brush outside his cave entrance and dove into the narrow opening. His bags bulged so large that they snagged on the tunnel walls, and he dropped them as a final lurching leap sent him into the main chamber, where his persistent houseguest waited for her supper.

Instead of an incoherent fit, however, Wolf found Red sitting on her pile of furs and looking uncharacteristically serene. Echoes of tear tracks ran down her apple cheeks, but her expression bore no sign of emotional distress. His heart ached. He hated seeing her in any state other than ecstatic, gustatory bliss, and this was far worse than the manic craving he’d feared.

“Red, my sweet, what’s the matter?”

“I’ve figured it out,” she said, her voice more hollow than he’d ever heard it. What had become of her passion, her lust for life?

“Figured… it out?” Wolf sidled closer as if she were a rabbit about to bolt—desperate to offer a comforting touch, but confused and wary.

“I know why you’ve been so nice to me all this time.” Finally, a glimmer of heat sparked in her eyes as they met his. “I was an idiot not to put it together sooner.”

As quickly as it appeared, the hint of Red’s anger faded away. She heaved a sigh that made her plush body seem to expand as she slumped into herself, her eyes downcast. “I was looking for something to read, but all I could reach was your cookbook. I found all the pages you marked.”

Wolf’s tongue was like sandpaper. He tried, and failed, to draw air into his lungs.

“You’ve been fattening me up for your own private little harvest festival feast.” Even this accusation was leveled with nothing more than apathy.

He opened his mouth to protest, but she continued.

“It’s fine. I don’t even care. It’s too late now, anyway.”

“Too… late?”

Red’s fingers drummed on the expanse of her vast tummy. Wolf imagined he could hear each touch echo in the hollowness of her deprived stomach.

“I’m too fat to fit through that tunnel. It’s even worse than being stuck in my bedroom window. I’m trapped in here, helpless to stop you from having your way with me—cooking and eating me with mashed potatoes and green beans and pumpkin pie.”

Everything after “too fat to fit” faded to noise in Wolf’s ears, like a strong wind through the thick canopy of the Wood. Heat clenched in his middle, and he fought to keep himself from shaking.

“Mother tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen. I was just so hungry all the time. I scarfed down seconds and thirds and still asked for dessert. I gobbled up everything in Grandma’s baskets. I ate and ate even though I was stuck in that window. I just had to stuff my face every chance I got, and now it’s come to this.”

Each word sent a fresher and sharper awareness through Wolf’s body. He could feel every strand of his fur and the very tips of his claws.

“I’ve got to hand it to you, though; you did a really good job. Every farmer in the kingdom should take notes on how well you’ve done at finishing me. I bet you couldn’t even fit me onto a cart to be hauled to the abattoir.”

“Red…” Wolf’s voice was desiccated.

“It’s fine, really. It’s my own fault for being so greedy. I hope I’m as tasty as you’ve been dreaming of.” She stroked her palms over her prodigious curves; used both arms to gather her engorged breasts to herself. “Be careful you don’t get a tummyache…”

Wolf closed the distance. He gently lifted Red’s delectable double chin, urging her gaze away from her pampered plushness until she met his eyes at last.

“Oh, Red.”

She blinked. “W-what?”

He patted her sumptuous shoulder, then slipped out through the tunnel. He returned with a series of grunts and heaves as he negotiated one sack and then the other through the opening. Without a word, Wolf fished out a pan of roasted sweet potatoes. While technically a vegetable, the orange chunks were candied with a thick crust of sugar and swam in glistening butter. He spoke in a mollifying tone as he carried the tray toward his pampered companion.

“It’s going to be okay, Red.”

Red’s eyes darted up to Wolf’s face before being magnetically drawn back to the tray. “What are you doing? Don’t give that to me.”

Contradicting her words, Red’s body lurched toward the food. Her hands twitched as she fought to keep from grabbing the tray.

“You’re upset,” Wolf said as he inched closer. “It’s well past time for your lunch. I’m so sorry for taking so long.”

“Hnng, no…” She breathed through gritted teeth.

Wolf held the tray hovering over Red’s bulging belly and her heaving breasts. Within reach, but well away from her mouth. He waited patiently as the aromas of the side dish floated down.

“Why don’t you have a little snack, and then we can talk this whole thing over?”

Red yanked the tray from him, propping it on her chest as she shoved handfuls of sweet potato into her mouth. What did it matter? She’d already resigned herself to her fate; why not enjoy herself as much as she could, as long as she could? She inhaled the potatoes, then put a corner of the pan on her chin, tilting it up to drink the buttery juices like a soup. Before the empty pan hit the cave floor, Wolf held out a pot of creamed corn, which she took eagerly.

Many side dishes later—barely a dent in his haul—Wolf stroked Red’s back as he handed her a basket of dinner rolls.

“Red, I’m not going to eat you.”

Red’s food-stained mouth opened and closed, gaping like a fish out of water. “You’re… you’re not? But what about…” she waved a chubby hand at Wolf’s bags and the growing pile of empty dishes beside her.

“What about what?” Wolf asked. “Your lunch?”

“This isn’t my normal lunch, Wolf. You’ve brought all the traditional side dishes for a harvest festival feast, all the stuff you marked in your cookbook!”

“This is the food I was able to find today. The festival is coming up soon, so village folks must be preparing for it.”

“But… just the sides?”

Wolf pointed at one of his sacks. “There’s also dessert. Half of that one is just pies.” He patted her slightly-less-hollow belly. “And I know how much you love pie.”

She swatted his paw away with a glare. “Okay, fine. Side dishes and desserts. That still leaves me to be the main course!”

He chuffed as he shook his head, then dug into a bag. He produced the biggest, fattest roast goose Red had ever seen. Despite the small feast she’d already devoured, Red had to swallow to keep from drooling. Her stomach made a greedy murmur that echoed through the cave. Wolf set the bird’s platter on a stone, tore off a massive drumstick, and held it out to her.

He massaged her towering belly as she ate. “I’ll admit, I was tempted for a time, at first, back when I found you in that window. Trapped and helpless, luscious and ripe. But after a while… something changed…”

“Hmm?”

Wolf stroked her sides, up and down; he had to stretch to reach around all of her, and her body warmed whenever his touch drew near to her breasts. “Well, my old plan got silly quite a while ago, even before you outgrew the window.”

The word outgrew should have upset her, but he said it with such fondness…

“It would be much easier for me to just eat some of this food—if feeding myself was still my goal.”

Red tore the meat off her second drumstick and reached for a wing. “So… what is your goal… now?” Her voice emerged shakier than she expected.

“It’s just you, Red,” Wolf whispered, his paws moving so high that his fur tickled the undersides of her breasts. “I want to take care of you. Shelter you, feed you, spend time with you, and just, just be with you, as much as you’ll let me. You’re my best friend.”

Tears brimmed in Red’s eyes. She tossed aside her wing with meat still on the bones. She reached for Wolf and pulled his face toward hers.

It wasn’t until she felt his dangling toes draped over her belly, tickling somewhere above her belly button, that the full weight of Red’s gluttony came crashing down on her. As Wolf nuzzled his head between her breasts, Red reached for the goose, her fingers finding nothing but bones. Well, maybe she’d had enough to eat. Maybe she was full. How long had she been bigger than Wolf? How long had just her tummy been bigger than Wolf?

When Red set the platter on the ground, Wolf slid off her belly and reached for his bags.

“That’s okay,” She said. “I’ve probably had enough.”

With fresh boldness, he squeezed her breasts and prodded at her stomach. “Don’t be silly, look how much food’s left.”

Wolf slid one bag beside her, within easy reach. Before she knew it, Red had an ear of corn in her hand. “But I’m getting so big…”

He dragged the second bag to her other side, handing her a pie after she tossed the stripped corn cob aside. “You’re a growing girl.”

Between mouthfuls of pie, she said, “So… I’ll just stay in here, stuck in this cave, growing bigger and bigger?”

Wolf panted ragged breaths, his body trembling as he leaned into Red’s belly and pawed at her breasts. “Yes, please.”

“What if I… grow too big… for this whole cave?” Red discarded her empty pie tin.

A baritone growl started low in Wolf’s throat, ravenous as Red’s hungriest stomach rumble. “I wasn’t being entirely honest before…”

“Oh?”

“When I said I didn’t want to eat you.”

Concern flickered back into Red’s eyes. Wolf let his paws run down to her underbelly, slipping into the fold where it rested on her thighs.

“…Oh.”

“May I?”

She nodded.

As Wolf burrowed between her legs, Red started on a bowl of mashed potatoes doused in gravy. His fur tickled her lower belly and inner thighs, making her quiver. His snout teased at her folds, and she moaned through a mouthful of food. Wolf’s rough tongue slipped inside her, licking and lapping and slurping with a voracity to rival her own.

Never in Red’s life had she experienced any pleasure, any happiness that could measure up to the delight of flavors on her tongue, or the satisfaction of a full belly. But Wolf was making her reconsider. In his company, she felt settled and content. With his labor, she was provided for—even if he went away, he’d always return to make sure she was satiated. But his touch… She’d thought she knew Wolf’s touch very well; all hugs and cuddles, belly rubs and head pats. But this…

His nose rubbed and teased and circled her clit. He hummed and growled from deep beneath her belly, making her clench and melt all at once. His tongue filled her, deeper than she’d have thought possible. He gripped her thighs, lapped at that bundle of nerves inside her, and she screamed.

Her hips bucked, desperate for more, to impale herself on his snout. Pinned as she was by her swelling belly, she could only tremble and quake. Trickles of dust streamed from the cave walls as she shook. Red cried out in ecstasy as Wolf sent her over the edge, squealing like the pig she was.

Wolf felt so good inside her that Red almost stopped eating.

Almost.