A Wonderful Curse

Chapter 02: A Big Surprise

     Ehren has just finished loading up his SUV with a cartload of groceries, closing the hatchback trunk the moment the cart is empty. The groceries aren't even for him but are for someone who placed an order online to have them delivered to their house. He sighs, not quite envisioning his life being this way.

     At twenty years old he had always pictured at an office job by now and making good money. Instead, he is delivering groceries to people who want them brought to their house because they either don't have time to do it themselves, have a medical condition, or are just too lazy to do it themselves. He looks at the name and address of who he is delivering them to, Mallory Murphy, wondering just which of the three categories she falls underneath.

     He can't complain about this job too much. The money is decent so he more than capable of living comfortably. It just isn't the job he envisioned having. Getting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, he puts his keys in the ignition and turns them. He has to turn his keys several times, the engine having some difficulty turning over. He runs his fingers through his short, blonde hair out of frustration at this development. "Come on," he mutters as if he is encouraging his vehicle to start. "Don't do this to me now." After several more key turns the engine finally starts and he can pull out of the parking lot.

     He is driving down the road and leaving the small town, following his GPS to the house he is making the delivery to. This is his last delivery and his destination isn't that far, two things that he is thankful for. All he can think about now is heading home and relaxing, maybe playing am MMO on his computer to unwind and put the day behind him.

     Before his GPS even alerts him that he is close, Ehren can see his destination. A simple manufactured home that is off to the side of the road on a small plot of land. The place is relatively small and the yard does look like it hasn't been tended to in a while. He figures that Mallory must be a senior with the state that the yard is in. He pulls into the driveway, getting as close to the home as he can before he parks his vehicle and shuts off the engine.

     He sees no other vehicles parked at the house, which only confirms that Mallory must not drive. Which can only mean that she may be a new regular that he will be making deliveries to. Grabbing one of the bags, he exits the vehicle so that he can wrap up his last delivery for the day. Climbing up the steps of the porch, he approaches the front door eager to finish with this delivery. Raising his hand to the door he knocks, waiting for someone to answer.

     "Who is it?" Ehren hears a feminine voice say from the opposite side of the door, which he can only assume belongs to Mallory. Her voice sounds like it is on the soft side, almost as if she is a ways from the door. He can tell that she must be relatively young, which means that she is either lazy or mentally unstable. He is hoping that he is dealing with lazy.

     "I have the groceries that you ordered," he answers.

     "Great, just leave everything on the porch and I will grab it when I can.”

     Just Ehren's luck, he is dealing with some paranoid head case. "I can't do that, company policy states that you need to confirm your entire order in order to make sure that you are receiving everything you paid for."

     Muttering can be heard from the inside of the house, Mallory sounding unhappy about this policy. "Fine." Ehren shakes his head,0 knowing that this customer is going to be a fun one to deal with. A loud crash coming from the opposite side of the door causes him to jump. "Son of a bitch!" he hears Mallory exclaim.

     "Everything okay in there?" Ehren isn't asking this just to be courteous, he is genuinely concerned for the woman's well-being.

     "Everything is just perfect, absolutely peachy." There is a lot of sarcasm in the woman's voice, not to mention that she does sound a lot louder now which he is assuming because she is highly annoyed now.

     Ehren watches as the doorknob turns before the door is pulled open. Looking inside, his jaw drops when he sees the woman who is inside. Staring straight ahead all he can see is her chest. Normally this would mean that she is tall, but that wouldn't be describing her properly. Her head is actually pressed up against the ceiling and she is looking down at him, while she is on her knees. He can't believe that he is looking at a woman who is actually too big to stand up in her own home.

     "Well?" Mallory says still sounding annoyed. She is brushing off some debris that is stuck in her long, black hair, remains of the ceiling that her head had just gone through. "Are you going to bring my groceries in or what?"

     The sound of the giant woman's voice pulls the confused man out of his stupor. He is now fully aware that he has gawked at the sizeable woman for a couple of minutes now. "Yeah, of course," he responds. As he enters the woman's home, he can't help but trail his eyes along the entire length of her body. This woman is massive. He can't even imagine how she is able to move about.

     Luckily for him, the kitchen is easy enough to find. Placing the bags on the floor, Ehren watches as Mallory twists and contorts her body just so she can crawl along the floor; whe can imagine is the only way that she can move about in her own home. Anything that is in her way, which is primarily furniture, is easily moved off to the side to clear her path.

     As Ehren is making several trips between his car and Mallory's kitchen, he tries to discreetly take quick glances at the large woman who is sitting outside her kitchen. One thing he can't help but notice is the size of her feet. Sure they are big, like the woman herself, but from a proportional point of view, they are huge. Not to mention that he does find them to be quite lovely, loving how she is curling her long toes every so often. He wishes that he could admire the sight for a bit longer, but he does need to finish up.

      With all of Mallory's groceries in the kitchen now, Ehren starts to go over her entire order with the woman, making sure that everything is the correct item. Mallory does show some slight annoyance that a couple of items that she wanted are missing, but this is due to an item being out of stock, not being forgotten.

     "Alright," Ehren says as Mallory confirms that her order is correct. He can't help but wonder why she didn't order a lot more. Surely a woman of her stature needs a lot more food to satisfy what he can imagine being a very large appetite. Maybe she only buys enough to last a couple of days at a time, though he can't see the practicality in that. But in his mind, that means she will be placing orders more often which also means he will be seeing her more often. Though there is a part of him does wonder why he is so interested in her.

      That is when it hits him. At her size, she must have a lot of difficulties putting things away. He can picture her contorting and squeezing herself just to fit inside the kitchen and even then it would be a cramped space for her to work in. "I normally don't do this, but do you want me to put all of this away for you? I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you to do it yourself."

     The large woman looks like she is hesitant to give an answer, mulling over the answer in her head. "Sure, I would really appreciate that."

     While Ehren starts to put everything away, he watches as Mallory lays down, stretching out her entire body. Having to crouch down for so long was leaving her feeling cramped. Ehren can't help but look the entire length of her body which looks as if it is even longer than the entire length of the living room. Despite how small her home must feel for her, Ehren can only wonder how she lives from day-to-day. It can't be easy for her and the slightly annoyed look she has on her face only confirms it. Hopefully, he can find out how she manages at some point, maybe after he has made enough deliveries for her it won't be so awkward to ask.

     With the last of the groceries now put away, Ehren steps out of the kitchen. "That is everything." He walks along the side her, the large woman looking back at him. He can see the slight smile on her face, telling him that she does appreciate what he has done for her.

      "Thanks."

     "Well, I guess I should be leaving now. You enjoy the rest of your day and I will see myself out."

     Ehren steps out of the woman's home, making his way to his vehicle. His mind is still on Mallory and her massive stature. How had he never seen her before? Surely a woman of her size hasn't gone unnoticed by the media, so people must know about her. Getting into his SUV, he starts the engine while still thinking about Mallory.

     These thoughts he is having about her aren't just mere curiosity, but more of a fascination about her. Why is that? He becomes distracted as he hears the engine slowly die out.

     "No, no, no." He is turning his key again and again, the engine not even trying to start. "Great," he says while throwing his hands up in the air. "Just perfect." He sighs, sliding his hand down his face as he just can't believe his luck. He grabs his phone, dialing the auto club so he can have his vehicle towed. Right before he hits send to make the call, he sees another problem. He has no signal. "Best coverage available, my tuchus."

     He leans back in his seat, looking back at Mallory's house. Is this situation life's way of getting him to head back inside the woman's house? Needing to use her phone is a convenient excuse to see her again so soon. Without another thought, he exits his vehicle and quickly makes his way back to her front door, eager to see her again.

     "Mallory," he says as he knocks on the door, "It's Ehren."

     "Who?"

     Right, he didn't tell her his name earlier. "I just delivered your groceries. Listen, can I use your phone? I need a tow and my phone isn't getting a signal."

     "Sure thing, just let me..." Ehren looks a bit confused when he hears silence, wondering what is going on inside. "Oh come on! Now! Really!?" Her voice sounds softer again like it did earlier when he first heard her voice. The sound of her grunting from inside can be heard, making him wonder just what is going on. "Just open the door, it's unlocked."

     "Okay?" He turns the doorknob and opens the door, wondering why Mallory is unable to do it herself. His eyes widen when he sees the inside and the giant woman is nowhere in sight. "Mallory?" He is trying to figure out where she could have gotten to. At her size, there really aren't too many options for her.

     "Down here," a soft voice says from below him.

     Ehren looks down fo see a woman who is so short that she doesn't even reach his knees. She looks exactly like Mallory, she is even wearing the exact same clothes, but smaller. But it can't be her, she is too small to be the woman he has just seen minutes earlier. "Are you Mallory's little sister?" This makes enough sense to him. If Mallory is so big, then it would stand to reason that her sister could be so small.

     "No," the little woman answers. "It's me, Mallory."

     "Wait, Mallory!? But how? You were just so big earlier and now..."

     "Just use my phone first, then I can explain everything after that. It's a bit of a story."

     It doesn't take long for Ehren to make the needed call. The actual conversation only taking about five minutes. "Okay," he says as he walks back into the living room, "The tow truck should be here in an hour." He can see that Mallory has managed to climb up on the couch, sitting there as if everything is normal. This is definitely an odd sight for him. She looks like a doll in comparison to the couch, and everything else for that matter. "Okay, you said that you would explain everything to me?" He sits down next to the diminutive woman, causing her to bounce a bit from how the cushion moves beneath her.

     "Right," she says as she stands up on the couch, trying to close the height gap between the two of them. She proceeds to tell him everything she knows about her curse. How she got it, what it does to her and how it has effectively ruined her life.

     "This sounds too unreal to me. You gotta be making this up."

     "Do I look like I am making this up!?" She is pointing to herself as she says this in an annoyed tone, her stature alone being proof of her story.

     "Fair point." He does feel a bit silly questioning the woman like that. "So cursed, huh? I don't even know what to say about that."

     "How do you think I felt when it first happened?"

     "If you don't mind my asking, were you tall or short before you were cursed?"

     "I used to be average height," Mallory answers. She is looking away slightly as she gives her answer, missing her original height of five foot four. These past couple of years she has either been unusually tall or short, rarely ever falling into an average height range. She then feels something on her shoulder. Looking over she can she that Ehren has placed a single finger there.

     "I don't think how tall or short you are matters."

     Looking up at Ehren she can tell that he is honestly being sincere about what he is saying. The last time she was out in public while she was cursed, people were staring at her as she either shot up in size or shrunk down, looking at her like she was some kind of oddity. But this man here is not seeing her in such a manner.

     While looking up, she can see the ceiling approaching her, quickly. With no time to react, her face is slammed into the ceiling, causing her to stumble backward. She trips over the back of the couch, falling over and tipping the couch over in the process.

     Laying on her back, her feet up in the air, the now oversized woman groans out of annoyance. Her curse once again had picked the perfect moment to kick in. "Still think it doesn't matter?"

     Ehren is getting up, surprised at what he had just witnessed. Mallory is now a lot closer to the height he had first met her at. The now very tall woman slowly gets up, muttering to herself, her head just inches away from her ceiling. But there is one thing about her that had him completely shocked. "Your clothes grew with you?"

      He had expected her clothes to become stretched to the limit from such an extreme change in size. With tears forming throughout the fabric as it would cling to her body. Yet, her clothes look as though they fit her perfectly.

     Mallory gets on her knees, getting eye level with the surprised man. "Yeah. That is one thing I will give this curse. Though anything else, like accessories or anything inside of a pocket, won't change with me. But at least I'm not naked because I either outgrow my clothes or becoming lost in whatever I am wearing."

     "So how do other people react when you suddenly grow or shrink, or is my reaction typical?"

     "I haven't been around too many people since I have been cursed. Granted I have tried to live a normal life, but there have been so many mishaps due to my sudden changes in size, that I have no choice but to stay inside."

     "You became a recluse because of it?"

     "No choice. Either the world becomes one big hazard to me, or I become a hazard to everyone else."

     Ehren looks at her, actually sympathizing with her. The many nuisances she has to deal with because of her curse are bad enough, but to essentially cut herself off from the outside world? "What about me then?"

     "What about you?"

     "I mean, if it is okay with you, I could come over and visit you. You know, keep you company."

     Mallory can only look at Ehren, her mouth agape out of shock. "Are you serious?"

     "Why would I joke about that?"

     "No, what I mean is that... Look, I don't know what I mean. I'm just surprised is all. I thought that my curse would push you away."

     Ehren steps closer to the tall woman, still finding it odd that he has to look up at her when just moments ago he was looking down at her. "Why would this curse put me away? If anything it should pull me closer to you. You have told me about how difficult your life has become because of it, the inconvenience you suffer. Is it so bad for me to want to stop by and check in on you, give you help when you need it?"

     Mallory looks at him, able to tell that he is being honest with her. "So you really want to do this then? Visit me every so often?"

    "Every day, if possible."

     She smiles something that she hasn't genuinely done for almost two years. "I would really like that."

     Their conversation is interrupted when they can both hear a vehicle pulling up the driveway. "I guess that I had better get going," Ehren says reluctantly. His time with the woman has been short and he wishes that he could stay with her even longer. "Gotta go to my car and pay for whatever repair it needs."

     "Yeah," Mallory responds. She watches as Ehren walks out the door, his keys in his hand. She moves closer to the window, moving the curtains slightly so she can take a peek outside. She is careful not to ve seen, Ehren may be aware of her curse but there is no telling how the tow truck driver will react to her large size. Watching him leave does make her feel a bit sad, but she does have a strong feeling that he will return just like he has said. The next thing she knows, her view us changing, watching as everything is getting higher until she finds herself staring at a wall.

     She can't help but sigh out if exasperation, wishing that she could have looked at Ehren a little bit longer. Looking up, she can see that the window is now out of her reach and she is unable to look out due to ger size. "Couldn't have waited a bit longer to shrink me down, could you?"

     Ehren has just finished talking to the driver and his vehicle now hitched and ready to be towed to the local shop. Climbing into the tow truck, he looks back at the house, still thinking about Mallory. He doesn't know why he does find her so interesting, but he does. Her long, black hair and her blue eyes ate just so captivating. Not to mention how cute she looks when she is at a minuscule size. Though when she is towering over him isn't so bad either. It is then that he hits a realization. He isn't just interested in her, but it is something so much more. He can only hope that the repair on his car is something simple so that he can return to the cursed woman very soon.