Lisa was following Tilly up the side of a bluff that sat at the southwest of South Barkalow. At some point in the town’s history, it seemed, the bluff had been covered with nature trails. Because all the citizens were so fat now and didn’t hike at all, the trail had become almost obscured by dilapidated undergrowth.
“Where are we going?” Lisa asked, trying to avoid clumps of nettles.
“Couldn’t tell you now: that would spoil the surprise.” Tilly reached into her immense book bag and pulled out a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew. She chugged some and continued walking.
“So how long have you lived here?”
“Several years ago, when I was about thirteen, my dad moved us here after my mom died. A friend of his said hundreds of job opportunities were being created here. Naturally, he was a beefy guy when we came here and he quickly got accepted. I was a skinny rail of a girl then, and it was the craziest experience. Everyone in town kept trying to get me to eat something, every minute of every day Even my dad started doing it.” She paused to loosen her belt, which was digging in to her bloated stomach. “Luckily, or ironically, you could say, I was able to make my bloating habit more public since the locals liked it when I drank in large quantities.”
They paused by some trees. Lisa leaned on one. “How’s your dad?”
Tilly giggled. “He’s beefier than ever, if that’s what you’re asking. He manages a contracting company. Just about every month some new house or eatery needs to be built and my dad oversees the projects. Upon my return from college I’ve lived by myself in my own apartment. In fact, it’s the same apartment complex where this investigative reporter recently checked in…”
The flippin’ –Lisa thought. Of course. She probably snooped around and noticed that I was coming, and then followed me to the diner. Her frustration subsided for a moment when she thought of something. “Who are the builders in a town of obese people?”
“Good eyes, journalist.” Tilly took another swig that finished her Mountain Dew bottle. “That’s where the 2% skinny people of the population comes from. Most of them are builders that the town constantly hires from other places. Just about any physical labor here is done be people of a healthier weight.”
The path was getting more and more overgrown, and Lisa was forced to stumble through the dent in the weeds left by Tilly. “Are you the only one that comes up here?”
“I’m more active and energetic than many of the people here.” She patted her swollen gut. “Most of the time this is just a pouch of air. I’ve gained a few pounds of fat during my life here, when I fill this great stomach of mine with food, but my weight is usually fluctuated by beverages. So yes, I’m probably the only one that comes up this way. This bluff is the perfect place to hide something in a population that would never think of walking this far.”
“Hiding what?”
“That is the big question.”
The reached the top of the bluff, where there were fewer trees. Behind them sat the town of South Barkalow, with its population of fatties that would never think of climbing a bluff. Because behind the bluff, under Tilly and Lisa’s feet, stood a large, imposing building.
Lisa gasped. “It looks like a…”
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