A Glutton's World

Intro

Hiking was never really Ezora's thing. One look at her would have clued you in on that. An old boyfriend from high school used to drag her out to this neck of the woods, but she'd been a different person back then.

Skinny, for one thing.

She had, fittingly enough, skin like chocolate, and plump lips that had only gotten plumper over the years. In the right top she didn't seem so large from straight on. Chubby, perhaps, or out of shape. It was from the side that her figure couldn't be ignored. Front and back.

Back in high school, they'd have brought granola bars, trail mix and a bottle of water. Today she slung off her backpack and took out two subway sandwiches, a party sized bag of chips, a box of Jimmy Slims, a packet of Jerky, and two cans of cola.

She was by herself, and she wasn't waiting for anyone.

While she took her time snapping up her snacks, she wandered along the woods, getting a good, careful lay of the land.

"Hello?" Ezora asked no one in particular. She shook the bag. "Free chips! Anyone? Nobody?" She popped one into her mouth. "Perfect!"

Tucking her backpack into an empty log, she finished the rest of the food at her own pace. Breakfast had been perfectly filling. She wasn't hungry. The extra padding had not happened on accident.

When she was done stretching out her red tank top, she stretched her arms, then her legs, the line of her top climbing her stomach as she did. When she ran out of things to stretch she realised she was putting it off and started to run.

Not in a gasping, heavy jog – a sudden dash through the woodland.

Trees blurred past her vision as she went, kicking up leaves and dirt without touching them. A thick tree branch caught her chest and snapped off, letting her bounce. She now had more in common with an out of control vehicle than any woman should have rightly had.

She tripped – flew twelve feet – and landed without breaking her run. The days of getting sweaty after a trip up the stairs were still fresh in her mind. That had to be half a kilometer, and she wasn't even out of breath. Ezora lost all pretence, skipping and laughing wildly.

She sprinted on unchallenged until a massive redwood loomed into view. Ezora leapt, felt the nothing under her feet, and kicked out. The tree bent back and fell, while she went soaring over the woods, screaming with thrill, landing on her back and cleaving another tree into a stump on the way down.

She got up and laughed as a hundred leaves finally caught up with her. Oh, it hurt. She just didn't care. Her stomach cramps were doing more damage.

After that, she skipped stones that vanished from sight and carved her name in a tree without a knife. She'd have juggled logs and rocks if she'd known how to juggle. Sticks, leaves, and all manner of things had gotten themselves stuck in her feathered hickory hair, which was a lot less 'stylishly messy' and now 'just messy.'

"Washboard abs and a six pack?" she mused, resting a hand on her dark dome, leaning against a tree she had kicked very hard. "No, I don't think so." Her stomach gurgled, and she burst out laughing. After all that, all she'd done was make some room. "E-Z, you fat ass! I can't believe you."

Unstoppable. That was the word. She'd never felt unstoppable before. She needed a picture to commemorate this. Whipping out her phone, she pulled the best superhero pose she could with one hand free and snapped a picture.

Then, unfortunately, she saw the time.

"No... no, no, oh no!" Where was her backpack? No time. They'd already had to reschedule for her once, she couldn't waste time looking for it.