I clasped my hands together, rubbing them in an attempt to restore my dexterity.

It was a

chilly winter night, and Christmas was just a month away. I had decided earlier that night that I

was to do some shopping for my family, but I’m usually quite cheap. I’ve practically never

bought anything at full price-- clothes, appliances, not even groceries. My family doesn’t know

this, of course, and would probably be very disappointed opening up clearance items on

Christmas Eve, so I’ve made the resolution to reintroduce myself to a bad old habit… if only just

for tonight.

My name is Cynthia. See, I used to be a compulsive eater, in a sense: for practically every

small object I could get my hands on, I would gobble it down without chewing. Even if it was

something important that I would probably need later, I wouldn’t hesitate. I lived for the feeling

of the objects going down my gullet and settling into my stomach, where I could feel my hoard

piling up inside as the day went by. By the end of the day, I would vomit out whatever I could

manage, leaving the rest to show up a few days after. I’ve never had any idea why I ever

indulged in such ridiculousness, or why it felt so good having my belly poke out so much.

Maybe it was the exhibitionism factor... my tummy was especially difficult to hide in the

summer months, when I showed more skin. Perhaps it was the thought of appearing pregnant,

complete with the sensation of kicks when the corners poked against my stomach walls. In either

case, I eventually got over it and got my life together. But tonight, if I wanted to get some really

good deals, I was going to have to stretch my stomach a bit.

I came across a lovely little secondhand store that should probably have everything I

need. The little bell rang above my head as I came in, my heavy coat beginning to feel a lot

warmer in the AC of the building. “Good evening, miss.” A young woman with a southern accent

waved to me from behind her counter in the corner. She had an episode of some cartoon going on
her monitor. She probably was just starting out, and didn’t seem too aware of what was going on

around her, which would definitely make my job easier.

Browsing the shelves, I found a nice red scarf my mother could probably use. Looking

back over the corner to make sure there weren’t any cameras or people watching me, I put my

lips over one end of the fabric and started feeding it into my throat. I was making good progress,

but damn, scarves are a lot longer than I thought! For a piece of cloth, it was actually quite

filling.

As I was swallowing, I heard somebody approaching around the corner. I stuffed the rest

of the scarf into the collar of my coat, which I quickly pulled over my nose to conceal my deeds.

The stranger looked at me with a warm smile, while I nodded back. I feigned a cough to get them

to go away, the best I could manage with a bunch of cloth going down my esophagus. She

eventually walked to a different aisle, letting me continue my feast as I wiped the sweat from my

forehead. I was already shivering with nervousness, trying to get back into the groove I was in oh

so long ago. I came here on an empty stomach and felt ready to leave already after swallowing

down the last of the scarf, but kept browsing for some items for my other family members.

Ah, some magical girl figurines. I have a few relatives who are into this stuff! I took one

off the shelf and admired her for a bit. She was just a side character I didn’t know the name of,

unfortunately. Didn’t have too many sharp edges to her... pretty, too. I slipped her and a few

others into my mouth and swallowed them down, one by one. They were a bit difficult to get

down, as the outstretched arms scratched my throat a bit… but I got through it. Whew… I was

wearing a heavy coat, so I was sure it wasn’t too noticeable, but my belly felt like it was jutting

out a fair bit, digging into my beltline just slightly.

 I scarfed down a few appetizers like novelty erasers and marbles as I looked around for

potentially useful gifts. The larger objects looked much less appetizing with the more that I ate. I

was full already, and anything further was just stretching me out more. Though, I had told myself

that I was going to have to stretch… with an exasperated sigh, I picked up a bag of dice. My little

brother likes these board games… I was sure he would like one of these. Pulling open the

drawstring, I emptied the contents into my mouth, swallowing about 3 at a time. I could feel the

little ‘clack-clack’s as they collided with the plastic figures inside me. I continued to swallow

more down, letting out a tired “Puh” as I finished the last of the bag, which I also swallowed for

safekeeping.

By this point I was actually starting to get quite stretched… all of my hoard was

beginning to make my stomach twist and tumble. I was starting to get damp down there as well,

the urge to rub one out increasing. “Hey!” I heard from behind. Ah, shit… I was so preoccupied

with what I was doing that I forgot to check my back. I turned around to find the girl from the

counter standing right behind me, watching me gobble down her stock.

She walked right up to me, uncomfortably close. Pressing her palm against my stomach, I

was a bit confused at what she was doing, but then began to feel a bit queasy-- she was actually

making me regurgitate, pushing something out of me like a toothpaste tube! I burped up one of

the little anime girl figurines, which was surprisingly free of stomach acid. The scarf must have

absorbed most of it. “This ain’t the way to treat the merch, dontcha think?” She brushed the

figure off with her shirt and set it back on the shelf. I nodded my head no, as it was difficult to do

much of anything with a meal of this caliber sitting in my gut.

“Well, from one stuffer to another, I’ll let it go. I’m just watching the store for my mom

and she usually gets mad when I don’t sell enough stock…” I sighed in relief. “But only if you
can swallow this really tacky set of shot glasses I wouldn’t miss.” She pointed to something right

behind my head, a box of 4 shot glasses reading cheesy phrases like “I’d rather be in Tahiti” and

“Just wanna do taxes”. They truly were relics of a bygone era. While normally I would have no

problem with such a thing, my body was already making rumbling noises from just the sheer

amount of filling, and I wasn’t sure if I could scarf down this last bit of food. I had no choice,

though, because I did not want to see what this lady might do to me if I fail.

It was a bit of an ordeal, but I lugged myself over to the shelf and opened the box storing

the glasses. While it wasn’t all that noticeable under my coat, I truly did feel like I was about to

throw up, my stuffed gut filling out whatever space it could. Sliding one glass out, I looked over

at my audience of one, who had a childlike grin. Shaking my head, I popped the entire glass into

my mouth and swallowed it down. Granted, it did feel good, but it was much more of a difficult

task under the circumstances… The glass crawled down my esophagus at a snail’s pace, giving

me a feeling of nausea and bloatedness.

I tried to keep a level head as I took deep breaths. “Three more, now.” The annoying girl

cooed to me, to which I gulped. I stared down the rest of my meal with a sweat drop running

down my face. Holding my epiglottis open, I piled the rest down my throat, swallowing down all

three of them at once like a comically large pill. I traced the bulges down my neck with my

finger, stumbling back and dropping the box. They were moving a bit slower than the one, just

barely letting my windpipe open so I could catch my breath. I panted like a sweaty dog as I

strained to get the glasses down my throat, while the girl watched. “You’re quite the stuffer!”

Turns out that the glasses weren’t taking a long time to reach my stomach, but I was quite

literally out of room, the excess piling up in the base of my throat. It felt really weird, like you

were about to throw up, but couldn’t. Years of eating like a normal human being seemed to have
crippled my stuffing ability, it seems… I could barely make out any words without slumping

over. The girl motioned for me to come closer, and I begrudgingly obliged, with not much

capability for resistance in my state. She inserted her hand into my mouth, startling me for a bit,

then she continued with her wrist, then her arm… I gagged for a bit as I could feel her reach

down my throat, pushing down on the glasses to compress my stomach contents. Once she

retracted her arm, I wiped my face, feeling a lot better as I felt the objects in my stomach having

distributed themselves a bit more evenly. A bit tight in the lower portion...

Pop! Ah, shit. One of the buttons on my coat popped right off, pinging the counter in

front of me with a snap. “A-ah, I’m sorry…” I coddled my cargo, now visible through the seam

in my coat, while the girl simply waved her hands and shook her head. “It’s alright, but you

should go, it’s near closing time and I think my mom’s about to be here…” I nodded back in

response and headed towards the entrance to leave with my free meal.

“H-hey, miss…” “Cynthia. My name is Cynthia.” “Cynthia, would you be free tomorrow

by chance? I’ve got some more stock that I won’t miss.” “Mmh… sure. See you later.” I stepped

out into the cold winter air again, the sweat blowing right off my face from the wind. “Fuck…” It

was a lot harder to stay warm as I felt the breeze carelessly fondle my belly, making me shiver.

“Guess that’s my price…”