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In the morning I awoke to the smell of something cooking. Since Eliza was not in the room, I assumed to be her. I pulled on my sweats and wandered my way towards the kitchen where the smell was coming from. As soon I entered the room, I stopped short at who I saw.

There, hovering over the stove was the old woman whose cart I had knocked over, starting off this whole nightmare that was the past five months! I was stunned, and didn’t know what to think, until my mind went to the conclusion that she had somehow changed into Eliza, at which point I began a series of violent dry–heaves.

Not a moment later, Eliza came in the door to the outside, with an armload of small pieces of cut wood. She dropped her load onto the floor, and immediately went to me. She got me to calm down and sit down on the large, sturdy chair by the table.

“I’m sorry you had such a shock,” she said, soothingly, “I never meant for you to find out this way. I was going to talk to you first before you came out of the bedroom.”

“Find out…?” I was still in a bit of shock, and was barely forming cohesive thought.

With a sigh, Eliza began. “This woman,” she said, indicating the woman who had taken the pan off and turned to face me with a concerned look, “is my grandmother.”

My mouth dropped open as I stared at the old woman, then Eliza, then back at the old woman. All I could manage to say was, “What..?!”

“Is true,” the old woman finally spoke in a thick accent.

I looked back at Eliza accusingly. “You planned this with her?!”

“No! I…” Eliza was at a loss for words and clearly upset.

Her grandmother took over. “The day you run over cart, I was so mad the way you run off like that. So I put a curse on you. I did not know what form curse would take – is different for everyone. But after a few days I feel bad, and ask Eliza to find you.”

“So I looked. And looked. For about two months. I really didn’t have a great place to start – I knew you were college age, and probably doing some kind of track, so I looked around the gym at the college, but no luck. I actually found you in the discount store when I was noting prices for a few necessities. There was something about you, waiting in line to buy those jeans that made me look for you again. Sure enough, you showed up the next week, noticeably bigger and buying another pair of pants.”

As I listened, I calmed down and managed to formulate thoughts of my own. “I don’t remember seeing you there, but I was lost in my own thoughts a bit. Why didn’t you approach me then? I was positively skinny in comparison to now.”

“Oh she wanted to,” Grandmother continued for her. “But is curse. To interfere might make things much worse; no way to know. Eliza beg me to let her talk to you, meet you, but I insist the danger too great.”

“So I followed you to your residence. It was lucky I found you at the store when I did, because as it turns out that was the last time you went. So I spied on you as you went to that fitness center, and saw you go off on your runs. Even though you were faced with such hardship, you persevered. Your determination impressed me, and over the next several weeks, even though you’d gotten big enough to leave an average person bedridden, you found a way to keep going. It was then that I realized that I love you.”

That last part blindsided me a bit. Even though her behavior the night before had seemed to indicate it, she’d never actually said it. Then, like many men when in similar situations, I said something stupid. “This isn’t some sort of fetish thing? I’ve read about things like that on the internet.”

Eliza looked a bit shaken by my comment, but only for a moment. “Well, we don’t have the internet here.” With that her smile began to show itself. “I’ve never been into big guys, if that’s what you mean. I’ve never been into any body type in particular for that matter. What makes you attractive to me is the kind of person you are. Though to be honest, I do find you quite handsome in your overalls.” She managed to blush a little.

Her grandmother took over again. “She beg and beg me to let her break curse, but I insist is far too dangerous. I know things, have seen things – far too dangerous. But she see that week after week the curse slowly get stronger. It must feed from your resolve. So I say yes, but only if she do it carefully.”

Eliza continued, “That’s why I had to be so circumspect. I couldn’t just walk up to you and say, ‘Hey, you know your curse? Let’s work on breaking it!’ Not only would it be potentially dangerous, you might not have let me help.”

I sat in that huge chair in silence, my huge flabby arms resting on my gargantuan belly.

Eliza continued, “When it came time for the farmer’s market, I thought if I got you to help me sell our produce, it would make us more at-ease with each other. So I loaded up the wagon like usual, and headed out through the woods, choosing a path that had a good chance of intercepting your run.”

At that point I chose to speak. “You got that wagon stuck in the mud on purpose on the off-chance I didn’t veer off of the route you thought I’d be taking?”

Eliza laughed and replied, “No! I was on a path I didn’t know well that was muddier than I expected. Once the front wheel was in, pushing and pulling only made it worse. I was actually really worried that, not only would I miss you, but I might have to leave the wagon to go get help at the market. But then you came running down the path and saved the day!”

I remembered the scene as I turned the bend in the path. Eliza seemed genuinely grateful at the time.

Eliza continued, “So, once you pretty much lifted the wagon to drier ground, I took the opportunity to invite you to the market. I figured working together all day would help gain some trust. But I almost blew it at the diner, and didn’t know if I’d see you again yesterday.”

I nodded. Some of the things she’d said at the diner felt a bit like prying, and I did lose my cool at one point.

“But there you were, waiting for me. At that point I became confident that you would let me help you. So, once we finished selling, and went for that walk, I felt that the time was right. For the least risk you had to confide in me about the curse before I could offer any solutions. Fortunately, you came around, and I could start thinking of ways to help. Well, once you ‘proved’ it to me by getting on that scale.” She smiled.

“Wait, you didn’t have any idea how we could break the curse?”

“No, it was too dangerous to even think about how to break it, until you invited me into your confidence.”

“Wow, you are a good problem solver. I don’t know if I would have ever thought of the solution.”

“You were too close to it. And given your level of determination, the idea of just giving up would be the last thing that would occur to you.”

That did make sense. I sat in that huge chair with my even larger ass, and though about what Eliza had said. Then I placed two hands aside my voluminous belly and asked, “So what now? Can I try to lose this? The curse is broken, right?”

Grandmother replied, “None can say. But in my experience, curse is only sleeping. If you try to lose weight, it could wake again. Don’t know for certain.” She shifted a bit uncomfortably and continued, “I am so very sorry that you end up like this. As I say I was angry and not thinking clearly when I curse you. And it is doubly sad that your strong will only fed the curse. A lesser man would have actually been a lesser man.” She couldn’t help but to grin slightly despite her contrition.

“So I’m essentially stuck like this? So what am I supposed to do now?” Once the school year ended I would be homeless. I didn’t really have any marketable skills, and it’s not like anyone would hire someone as fat as I was anyway.

Eliza exchanged glances with her grandmother, pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.

“Well, you could live here with me...with us on the farm. The work isn’t hard to learn, though it is hard work. But you’re so strong I’m sure you’d be able to handle it. I can do a lot outside, but the plowing and such is more than I can do. The past several springs we’ve had to hire a hand, which is not only expensive, but potentially dangerous for two women living alone.”

“So I’d be some sort of live-in farmhand?”

“If you wanted. Or you could be part of the family. You’d be welcome here in any capacity you chose.”

I sat there in silence for a long time. If Grandma was right, I’d be stuck in a 650+ pound body for the rest of my life. I put a hand on my belly again, as if to make sure this was still all real. And just then Eliza put her had on mine, and I looked into her eyes. And just then, I made my decision.

“Well, if I were to stay here, I think I need to do one thing.” I rolled forward to stand, and then began to struggle down onto one knee, using the chair for support. After several loud grunts, I was able to finally come to rest on one knee, took Eliza’s hand, and looked up into here gorgeous eyes once again.

Sometime during my re-positioning, Grandma ran out of the room, and at the time, I had no idea why. I went ahead anyway once I was settled, “Eliza, will…oh.”

At that point Grandma hurried back in holding something in her hand. She grabbed my hand and placed a ring in my palm. “Was for my own engagement. I wanted for Eliza to have it. Please go on.” She smiled for the first time I had remembered, and I sort of saw where Eliza got hers from.

“Thank you. Uh, yes. Eliza,” I said as I held the ring out to her, “will you marry me?”
Eliza was nearly speechless, but managed a “Yes!” as she took the ring, and gave me a huge that might have knocked over a lesser man.

*****

Well, that’s about the whole story. Eliza and I are still happily married for three years next month, and we are still working the farm. I do all the heavy work – plowing, lifting, etc. – and although I don’t work out in a gym I have stayed exceptionally strong from all the stuff that needs doing. Eliza handles the animals mostly – feeding, milking, egg-gathering – and is quite handy with tools when something needs repaired or built. Grandma is still going strong, and handles most of the indoor chores, cleaning and cooking.

I have to say she is a really good cook. Every morning before we go out there are eggs, meat, and either biscuits or pancakes. While I don’t stuff myself to the gills, I’m not shy about eating, especially on mornings when I’m about to spend 10-12 hours out in the field.

You’re probably want to ask the “big” question. Well, the answer is yes, I’m still pretty much as big as I was the day the curse went dormant. I may have lost 10 pounds or so, or I may have gained as much. Of course, without weighing myself, I’d never know, and I don’t plan on weighing myself again. There is no telling which of my old behaviors might re-trigger the curse, and I don’t want to risk that. It was hard enough for those two to work the farm by themselves, let alone have to take care of me if I got too large to move.

No, I’ve gotten used to the size I am now, and you might say I’m actually happy with it. And I definitely want to stay mobile when the twins are born in a few months. While I definitely would never have seen myself in this situation before the curse, I can only say it has changed my life for the better.

Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I have produce to sell.