2002 © Blimp Wolf

by Blimp Wolf

"I'm running late, Dad. I'll see you later!" Kyle said, munching on a bagel and heading for the front door.

"Kyle!" his father called, rushing to the hall from the kitchen. The young cat spun around, in mid-bite. "It's just," his father began, "I had wanted to have a talk with you. And I got home too late last night thanks to my deadlines."

"Well, Dad," Kyle said, swallowing, "I've got… a big exam first period, so I have to get going or else I might miss the bell."

Peter Nekogami stood silent. Slowly, the slight look of worry that had been on his face melted into a fatherly smile. He waved his hand at his son. "All right. Have a good day. But, Kyle, when I get home tonight--which I promise you will be on time--I need to talk to you."

"No problem, I'll see you then," Kyle answered, turning back to the door.

"Good luck on the exam, like you need it," his father called as he closed the door.

Leaving his front yard, Kyle turned to wave as he hurried off to school. As he saw his father leave the window, Kyle reminded himself just how many times he had heard the 'I swear that I won't be late tonight' line from his father before. Honestly, he tried not to hold it against him… work paid the bills. He loved his Dad, it was merely that he missed him these days, what with Mom gone. Dad had not even started dating again, and it had been over a year. Kyle worried about his Dad, he worked so hard these days and he was free less and less. Kyle had wanted to talk to him, about his life, about Mom, and about what was going on today.

I wonder what he wants to talk about? Kyle thought, wiping away the small tear he had shed.

However, his mind turned back to his day. In addition to the exam, the cat had other plans. Slowing, he rubbed his stomach, feeling the same weird sensation that he had for the past few weeks. He prayed that it was not an ulcer; he had nearly worried himself to one over concern for his Dad. Fortunately, the twinge went away, as it always did, and he started back at full stride to school. Maybe I just need to lose a few more pounds, Kyle thought as he noticed that his waist seemed to have grown by a couple of inches recently, though he did not really feel any heavier then usual.

Pondering, he looked down at his stomach rounding around his front. He had never been a skinny cat, and his father was pretty hefty. As a kid, he had been very overweight. Starting a few years ago, he started a good regiment of exercise and healthy eating. Though he had slimmed down quite a bit from the sumo cat he had been, he just could not seem to really become thin, his weight staying slightly above 200 pounds, though he looked to be much heavier. After all his work, he was still round around the middle, still had a double chin, and was still chubby everywhere else. It tended to run in the males in his family, with the strangely noticeable exception of his grandfather.

You're just too much like your Dad, Kyle my boy, the cat thought, breaking into a power walk to exercise his way to school.

Peter Nekogami returned to the kitchen table, to his cooling coffee, and to his newspaper. As the overweight lynx sat and started back into the stock prices, he tried to focus. He seems all right, he thought, turning a page. Maybe it won't happen… maybe it isn't an issue, he thought, taking a sip of coffee, … and maybe I shouldn't have delayed this long. He has a right to know, and I just need to be a man and tell him. Putting down his paper, he looked to the photo album beside him on the table. Though Peter had kept and used it for most of his life, he had never shown it to Kyle before. Putting a thick paw on it, he grew concerned. I just hope that he can handle it, he thought, his stomach starting to tingle.

Hurrying along to school, Kyle's mind was occupied with Calculus for his exam and how he was going to pull off his ludicrous plan. Coming up to the main drive to the school, he heard a sudden 'click' to his right. Turning, he saw his friend Red (named for his the shocking red color he had dyed his hair) coming towards him, camera in hand.

"Gotcha, Kyle," the bull said, winding the film in his old camera.

"Very sneaky, Red. What's with the hiding and snapping pictures of innocent pedestrians?" Kyle asked with mock attitude.

"I needed to finish off this roll so I could develop it in class today. I've got some really good shots from the art festival this past weekend. I'll show you them after I process them."

"Cool," Kyle said, looking down to his watch. "Geez! We'd better hurry up or else we'll be late."

Rolling his eyes, Red nodded and joined his slightly neurotic friend. Having completely rewound his film, he stored it securely in his camera bag and loaded a fresh roll.

Looking over at his friend loading the film, Kyle felt slightly envious of Red. He might not always do the best in his classes, or even show up to all of them, but he had his talent and his dream. He was a great photographer who had even been featured in some shows in local art museums. He could always be found taking pictures of nearly anything, people, nature, cityscapes, or even skyscapes. He always talked about becoming a professional one day. Kyle might be able to make straight A's, but he never felt that he had anything really special about himself, like Red did. For that, he envied his friend. The fact that Red could also seemingly eat anything and never gain any weight was also a source of annoyance for Kyle too, though his friend never rubbed it in.

"So, what's on the old agenda for today?" asked the bull.

"Well, I've got that big Calc test first thing," Kyle said rather quickly.

Red arched an eyebrow and flicked the tip of his left horn. "I can tell that you're worried about that test too," he said, suspecting that his friend was hiding something.

"Not really…"

Red suddenly stepped in front of his feline friend, putting an arm on his shoulder. "Then what is it? You're not telling me everything."

Kyle rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled. He had been friends with Red for too long, he knew him too well. Ah, well, he had to be told sooner or later. "Well… I just… am going to do something today… something wild," Kyle stuttered, slightly blushing.

Red's eyebrow arched further. This was unlike his friend, Kyle wasn't the type to keep secrets. "So spill it, Kyle."

"All right. Today, after lunch… I'm going to ask Sandra out to the dance this Friday," Kyle said in one quick breath.

Red's mouth nearly fell to the ground, his eyes bugging out of his face. "You're going to WHAT?!" he shouted.

Kyle recoiled. "I'm gonna ask Sandra out."

"That's what I thought you said. Are you crazy?" Red asked, as they started slowly walking to the school.

"If you mean Travis…" Kyle began.

"Yes I mean Travis! The Travis who used to beat you up, the Travis who still enjoys picking on you, the Travis who's been trying to pick up Sandra for two years now. And you want to voluntarily invoke his wrath?" Red said, finally stopping to breathe.

"Travis is a stupid jock; it's no wonder that Sandra has turned him down for two years. I like her, I've liked her, and I finally have the guts to ask her out. Senior year has been going well for me, and I think that I can finally do this. Plus, I think she likes me too," Kyle said somewhat defensively, his stomach gurgling angrily.

The bull snorted, his face showing concern.

"No, seriously! Just last Thursday we were in class and she asked to borrow my eraser, and she said I was 'a dear,'" Kyle said proudly.

Red stood, dumbfounded, and blinked twice. "Yeah, what was I worried about? It's obvious that she's crazy for you," Red said, throwing his arms up and continuing to walk.

"Well, okay, I'll admit that it isn't exactly the ringing declaration of affection that I'd hoped for, but there are other signs. Plus, she's single and this is the big Spring Dance we're talking about."

"You two have had a lot of classes together, I guess. You know that I stand behind you, Kyle," Red said, looking over to his friend, "no matter what crazy thing you decide to do. But if Travis decides to pound your romantic butt into the ground, I'll be very far behind you."

Kyle scratched his chubby stomach, rolling his eyes. He knew that Red would think that he was crazy, heck, he thought that he was being a little crazy himself. But, this was what he wanted.

"When are you going to ask her out?" Red asked.

"Fourth period, after lunch. We both have Physics that hour, so I'll ask her out before class starts."

"Well, you'll have to tell me how it goes. I can make it to lunch, but I've got three rolls worth of prints to make for the big exhibition next week. If I don't get started right after lunch, I don't know when I'll finish." Walking up to the Math building, Red started off down the path to the Arts complex. Turning, the bull called out to his friend. "Well, good luck on the test and I'll see you at lunch."

"See ya, Red!" the cat called out as his friend started off.

Turning to the doors, Kyle caught site of his reflection in the glass. There stood the overweight slightly dark yellow/tan-colored cat with a lighter underbelly and brown stripes wrapping around his back, wearing only his red t-shirt and his black backpack. Turning profile, Kyle did admit that he had definitely rounded out some this past week, though he did not remember noticing it before today. He hoped that Sandra would not be judging on his appearance.

Running his thick fingers through his hair, he practiced a few 'cool' poses in the reflective door. He flashed different smiles, resting an paw into the side of his gut and trying to keep his tail from twitching. Suddenly realizing how silly he looked, he gave a few laughs and went in to take his exam.

Kyle tried to spend his lunch paying attention to the first set of photos Red had finished that morning. In truth, from what little he was aware of, they were good pictures, up to Red's usual caliber. However, the bull's photos were the last things on Kyle's mind right now. In a few minutes, he would make his big move. He was starting to get nervous, and lunch seemed to have upset his stomach.

"Hey, Earth to Kyle," Red said, waving his hand in front of his friend's face.

"H-huh? Oh, sorry, kinda spaced out there for a sec."

"I was saying that fourth period is going to start soon, so if you're going to ask Sandra out, you'd better hurry up and do it."

Nodding, the two got up from their table near the pine trees and started towards the Natural Sciences building. Unbeknownst to them, Red's final comment had caught the ear of a small group sitting behind the large bushes near the trees. One set of ears in particular perked up.

"You hear that, Travis?" asked a large alligator in a letterman's jacket for football.

Taking a large bite of his hoagie and talking while chewing, a muscular dark brown gorilla wearing a similar jacket responded. "Yeah," he mumbled, spitting lettuce out of his mouth on the alligator. Putting down the sandwich, he swallowed and continued. "I think that we should go watch this one, guys," the gorilla said, standing.

With a few primitive chuckles, he, the alligator, and a group of others, all wearing letterman's jackets for football, stood and started to follow their prey.

Walking towards the Physics class, the two friends stopped in their tracks. There, approaching from a different hallway walked Sandra Winters. Kyle merely stared as she approached the Physics room, thinking that the lioness was truly a vision of loveliness, in her pink tank top, mid-length jean pants, and her beautiful tan fur. The young cat had long been an admirer of Ms. Winters, and she had been one reason for his slimming down these past years.

"There she is, man. You'd better go make your move," Red said, nudging him in his side.

"Yeah, oohhh," Kyle said, gripping his stomach in seeming pain.

"What's up, man?" the bull asked in concern.

"It's my stomach; it's been acting up lately, and I think that lunch didn't agree with it."

"That or you're just nervous. You'd better hurry up and down some antacid if you want to keep up your plan. I'll catch you after school, when I want all the details," Red told him as he started off.

With a nod, Kyle lurched forward, still rubbing his stomach. But now, upset gut or no, he would let nothing stop him. Picking up his pace, he called out, "Hey, Sandra!"

The lioness looked around, spotting Kyle hurrying towards her. With a smile, she turned to greet him. "Oh, hey, Kyle. What's up? You all set for another thrilling hour of busy work in here?" she asked smartly, jerking her head towards their classroom.

"Oh, uh, yes. But, there's uhm," he started to stutter out, fidgeting with his hands, and his tail flicking behind him.

"Something up, Kyle?" Sandra asked, her face seeming to light up with compassion for the tubby cat she had known for years.

Blushing and becoming more nervous, Kyle tried to continue. "Well, it's just… there's this… dance this Friday," he began.

"You mean the Spring Dance? Yeah, I might have heard something about it," she said with a coy smile, nodding towards the solid wall of posters advertising the dance tomorrow night.

Looking around, Kyle began to wring his hands, blushing even more. "So, you heard about it," he said with a few nervous laughs, his stomach starting to do somersaults. "So, I was thinking, maybe if, y'know, you weren't doing something… if you might consider…" he started, his nervousness rising.

"Kyle Nekogami! Are you asking me out to the dance?" the lioness asked, resting a hand on her hip.

Looking up, Kyle's chubby face was now bright red. "Well," he began, finally deciding to go for broke. "Yeah."

Sandra reached a hand up, putting a finger to her chin, as if pondering a great question of the ages. She remained this way for nearly five seconds, as Kyle started to sense that a 'no' was forthcoming and that he would soon go try to find a hole to go hide in until college. "I'd love to, Kyle," she said with a wink.

"Well, I understand, you obviously already had a…" The cat blinked in confusion, "Excuse me?"

"I said I would be happy to be your date for the dance," Sandra said, flashing her luminous smile.

From a shaded area no more then ten meters from them, a large figure in a jacket bared clenched teeth.

A smile as wide as his waistline came across Kyle's face. This had only been an optimistic dream for him. In all honesty, he expected her to casually brush him off, probably using the old 'you're such a good friend' line or something similar. Now that this, the least expected of all outcomes had arrived, Kyle found himself nearly speechless. Fortunately, Sandra was not.

"How about we meet up at 7:00 that night?" she asked.

"Sounds perfect," the cat answered, his anxiety melting away.

"Cool," Sandra said, ruffling her fingers through Kyle's hair. Turning, she started towards the classroom. "Oh, and, Kyle." He raised both his eyebrows. "It's about time you asked me out," she said. "I've been waiting for quite some time. Heck, I was almost tempted to go out with that troll, Travis… Well, almost."

The two shared a few laughs, meanwhile, the shadowy figure picked up a stone from the ground and crushed it in his bare hand.

"I'll see you in class," the lovely lioness said, winking to him once more before entering the room.

Kyle stood there for a few seconds, totally dumbfounded. She had said 'yes'… she had been waiting for him. This was suddenly the greatest day of his life. Feeling pride and confidence well up inside him, the portly cat started towards his class. Maybe I don't need to be 'the fat kid' anymore, Kyle thought. Today may mark the first day of…

"Hey, Kyle!" called out an all-too-familiar voice from behind.

Turning around, he saw Travis and his 'goon-squad' coming towards him.

…the end of my life, he concluded.

As the gang reached him, they encircled the nervous cat.

"He-hey Travis, what's up?" Kyle managed to eek out.

The group exchanged silent looks of smugness and overconfidence. They knew that they were intimidating the nerdy cat, and they were enjoying every moment of it.

"Kyle, you little devil, I saw what you just did," Travis said in his usual calm, serial-killer tone of voice.

Kyle's eyes bulged, and his heart slowed. Suddenly, the nervousness he had felt earlier returned, though now doubled in intensity. His stomach felt as if a rock concert was going on inside of it.

"A-about-t S-S-Sandra," the cat began, making out his Will mentally.

Travis waved his large, simian hand to quiet Kyle. "Congrats, man! She's a hot babe, you'll have fun tomorrow night," he said with an unsettling smile.

His cronies voiced similar words of congratulations to the bewildered feline in the middle. Some gave him pats on the back, while others shot him thumbs-ups.

"So, I'll see you there tomorrow, Kyle. I'll make sure that you two lovebirds have a great time," Travis began, suddenly leaning in saying, "a dance that you won't ever forget."

With a few low laughs and a squeeze on the cat's shoulder, Travis nodded to his group, and they sauntered away.

As they moved out of Kyle's earshot, the alligator spoke up. "That really freaked him out, Trav. What are you going to do to him?"

"Exactly what I said, Roy. I'll make sure that that little butterball doesn't forget that dance… no matter how much he's going to want to."

The group laughed aloud.

"First, I better get a date," Travis said, calming himself. "Should I call Tawni or Bambi? Hmm… I'll just take both of them. Less decisions to make. Plus, I'm sure that neither would mind going out with me," he said with a flex of his left arm.

Some in the group rolled their eyes, while most agreed with grunts with Travis' statement. Following, a mole in the group spoke up. "We'd better hurry, guys. Coach's expecting us for weight training like ten minutes ago." Exchanging nods, the group began to head towards the weight room.

Travis, though walking, occupied his small mind with ideas of exactly what he should do tomorrow night. A casual beating up like he used to give Kyle seemed to predictable. No, he would have to really think about this one.

"Uh, guys, I'll catch up with you. I gotta go to the bathroom," Roy the alligator said, turning back to the bathroom near where they had just been.

Oh my God! Kyle thought, breaking out into a nervous cold sweat. Starting to shake, fears raced through his mind. Travis is going to kill me! And he's going to do it during the one thing I've wanted for years.

Becoming more and more nervous and anxious, Kyle started pacing outside the Physics room, a few students noting him and how he did not look well. As Kyle's stomach redoubled its odd pains, the cat slowed, clutching his stomach.

Oh great, and now I'm getting an… he started to think, until he noticed something odd.

He had grabbed his torso with both arms, which reached around to his wide sides. And suddenly, the pains in his stomach died down. Yet they were replaced with an equally discomforting feeling, a feeling which felt like it was spreading throughout his body. His arms felt his stomach grow tighter somehow. Fearing he would vomit on the sidewalk, Kyle quickly ran into the nearest bathroom, wanting to throw some cold water on his face, or at least to wretch in private.

Kyle splashed cold water on his face, rubbing his chubby cheeks as the sensation in his stomach increased. Clutching his stomach again, Kyle's left eyebrow arched. True he had always been a large cat, but his arms had always been able to reach across his stomach. Strangely now, they did not. Instead, he felt a force pressing against his arms, forcing them outwards. Looking down, he saw his red shirt slowly moving outwards, along with his waistline! His flesh started to swell around the clutching arms.

"What's going on?!" Kyle said aloud.

To his surprise, as he looked back up into the mirror, he could see his cheeks were swelling up. Before he could say anything, his arms felt his stomach growing firmer and slightly bouncy. As his stomach continued its inexplicable growth and rounding out, it began to emerge from beneath his shirt. Pushing the red fabric up towards his chest, Kyle's belly expanded like a balloon being inflated. Worry came over Kyle's face, and he tried to force his stomach back into its original shape. His arms slightly dug into his stomach, as if it truly was a furry balloon.

To his horror, as he was pawing at his paunch, he found it more and more difficult to bend his fingers. Holding up his paw, he saw the reason. Slowly, his arm, hand, and even his fingers were swelling up. Before he could utter a shriek of alarm, his cheeks puffed out like baseballs. Trying now to look down again, he found that his double chin had blown up as well and was now starting to rub against his puffed up chest. As his torso inflated, and he flailed his arms, his increasing girth started to force his legs apart, as they too started to expand. Kyle closed his eyes, praying that he was not about to pop. He thought of his Dad, he thought of his Mom, Red, and Sandra. Wishing to see them again, he shed a single tear.

Suddenly, Kyle could no longer feel the weird sensation in his stomach any more. Praying it had all been nothing more than a bad dream which he would now wake up from, he opened his eyes and looked to the full-length mirror in the bathroom.

Blinking several times, the reflection in the mirror was more of a nightmare than a dream. Gawking back at Kyle was an enormous cat. With swollen paws, Kyle reached down, rubbing and poking the bouncy globe that was his stomach. Registering the touch in his brain, Kyle realized he was quite awake and, for some reason, he was quite inflated.

"I… I can't believe this is happening," Kyle said softly.

His waist was nearly perfectly round, as he saw when he turned to see his profile. All in all, he looked like he had swallowed the equivalent of an over-inflated beach ball, with extra air for the rest of his body. He was slightly larger than twice his previous size and girth. His now larger arms rested on his puffy sides. With increased effort, he could bend his thick fingers. His shirt, which was now tightly wrapped around his upper torso, constricted his swollen chest. Curiously, his thighs and backside had grown larger than his arms had, which he figured was because they were closer to his stomach. His feet had grown only a little, making them merely appear swollen. Trying his best to look behind him, his waist did extend outwards even behind him, though not by much. Kyle was somewhat relieved to see that his tail had not changed. His once pudgy cheeks were now slightly larger than baseballs, with a larger chin and some minor swelling across the remainder of his head. His brown stripes seemed to have stretched along with his skin and fur, and they only made him look bigger and rounder then he actually was. In the middle of his lighter underbelly, he could still see his belly button in the mirror's reflection.

Looking around, he moved his puffy paws across his new form. Amazingly, he felt no pain or discomfort. Grabbing a part of his large stomach, and nearly laughing from how it tickled, Kyle discovered that it was rubbery and stretchy like elastic. Poking a finger into his stomach, his gut was pressed inward and sprung back when released, as if it were little more then a tan balloon. Fortunately, he could still link his hands across his stomach, though he resembled a cat holding a ball close to him. He now looked like an obese cat, though, strangely, his body did not sag as if it were filled with fat. In truth, his weight felt as if it had only increased by a small amount.

"What's happened to me?" Kyle asked, more tears readying themselves.

Feeling weak-kneed, Kyle dropped down to the floor. However, his inflated backside bounced him nearly back to his feet with a barely audible 'boing', just as if he were a beach ball. Shaking his fat head to make this insanity go away, Kyle tried to concentrate.

Kyle, you have to calm down and think about this rationally, he thought to himself, slightly wobbling on swollen feet.

If nothing else, Kyle Nekogami was a rational, logical cat. Calming the hysteria and choking back the tears, he tried to center himself. He focused beyond his fear, beyond the shock, looking only to the analysis he needed. All the noise in his mind quieted, only inner calmness remained. Taking a few deep breaths, Kyle opened his eyes and tried to solve his problem.

Now, what can I… he thought to himself.

"What the?!" he said aloud.

Looking at his reflection, he saw his belly start to shrink and deflate. A great calming sensation came over Kyle as his strange new body slowly deflated back to his old overweight body. Hoping that this deflation might continue and shave a few inches off of his waist, Kyle was slightly disappointed when the deflation stopped once he had reached his old size. Feeling his stomach and all over his body, it felt normal again. Strangely, though, his skin did still feel somewhat stretchy like it had been, though not nearly to the degree when he had blown up. Quickly, he dashed over to the sink and threw more cold water in his face.

"I don't know what that was," Kyle said to himself, rubbing water on his chubby face, "but I have to get out of here before it happens again. I can't let anyone see me, I'd better go out through the employee lot," Kyle began to say as he rushed out the door, on his way home.

The bathroom returned to its previous silence.

The resting quiet was then pierced by the creaking of a stall door being opened. Stepping out, Roy looked towards the door to make sure Kyle had left. He kept his right hand covering his mouth. Seeing that the cat was no longer present, he no longer restrained himself and fell to the ground laughing. "Oh my--ha ha ha," he cried, "that was the--ha ha--funniest thing I've ever seen."

Steadying himself, he played the scene back over in his mind. He had been just about to leave when he saw Kyle enter. Thinking he would give the fat kid a scare by appearing behind him, it was Kyle who gave Roy a start. The alligator thought the cat had always been a lard butt, but when he actually started blowing up like some balloon, Roy could barely contain his laughter. Seeing Kyle flail and expand was hilarious to the alligator, apparently not realizing the fear that the inflatable cat had felt.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, a malicious look came across Roy's face. I think I might have just found that 'something' that Travis was looking to do to that sumo balloon at the dance tomorrow, Roy thought, feeling smug and proud as he exited the restroom… without washing his hands!

Bursting into his room at the house, Kyle threw his backpack down. He had taken the longest, most secluded route home. He saw the clock beside his bed, with 6:42 glowing back at him. He had walked down to the river, though the forest, and finally up the back trails to reach his house, making sure that no one saw him. Passing his desk, he saw the red light of his answering machine blinking next to his phone. After a slight debate, he pressed the 'play' button.

"Kyle? You there?" asked the familiar voice of Red. "I thought that we were supposed to meet up after school, but I missed you. I guess your meeting with Sandra went better then expected."

Kyle let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. Red rarely took things seriously, and he could always make him laugh.

"So, I think I might try to stop by your place later to see how things went, if I can get done here in the darkro--" Red was cut off by the finishing 'beep' of his message.

I'd better give him a call, Kyle thought. And say what? 'Sorry I was a no show, Red, but you know how it is, ask out a pretty girl, inflate like a balloon.'

Kyle shook his head, feeling himself growing upset. Attempting to calm himself, he saw there was still one more message on his machine. As he reached down to press the button once more, a few knocks at his door halted him.

"Kyle?" called his father from the other side of the door, "you in there?"

Dad was home? On time?! This was the first time in months that this had happened. Kyle snapped himself to attention. "Yeah, Dad."

"May I come in, I'd like to talk to you," his father said calmly.

Talk, now? Now was not the best time in Kyle's mind. How was he going to tell Dad about what had happened today. He barely believed it and it had happened to him! No. Not right now, at least. He needed some time to think.

"Actually, Dad, I'm in the middle of phone messages right now. Can it wait till later?"

Through a few moments of silence, Peter knew that, if he wanted, he could merely enter and talk, even if Kyle did not want to right then--Kyle never locked his door. "Yeah. Tell you what," the older cat responded, "I'll go make dinner, and you come down and eat when you're done. We'll talk later."

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief as he heard his father walk back downstairs and into the kitchen.

Entering the kitchen, the fat lynx tossed his jacket onto the back of one of the chairs around the table. Reaching up to his neck, he loosened his red tie. Moving over to the table, he put his photo album down in the middle of the table. He would not wait until after dinner. When Kyle came down, they were going to finally talk. Moving over to the refrigerator, he got out two frozen dinners. Though he enjoyed eating, cooking was something Peter Nekogami usually left up to the magic of microwaves and frozen food technology.

The answering machine began to speak once more, starting with the beep.

"Hey Kyle, it's Sandra."

Sandra! Kyle thought.

"Are you all right? I saw you run towards the bathroom and you looked really sick. I hope you're all right and that we're still on for tomorrow night. I'll call you later to check up on you. Feel better!" her sweet voice said as the message ended.

Kyle heaved a sigh of relief. Sandra was genuinely concerned for him. She would call him later so he had better just go along with the 'I just got sick from lunch' excuse that she seemed to think had happened. Starting to turn away, he noticed that the 'new messages' light was still blinking.

Oh no, Kyle thought, I must have missed her second call. As he pressed the button, he rubbed his eyes.

"Kyle!" called out the shrill voice of Travis, snapping the cat to attention.

"Why did Travis call?" he wondered, feeling his anxiety building.

"Just wanted to say again how glad I am that you got Sandra to go out with you. I know that you two are going to have a… swell time tomorrow night."

Strangely, Kyle could almost have sworn he heard laughing in the background of the message. He moved his finger towards the 'erase' button; it had been a difficult day, and one helping of Travis was already more then he could deal with.

"Yeah, man, you just make sure you stick with Sandra. You never know what trolls are lurking around," Travis' voice said, in a dark tone.

Kyle's finger paused, his whole arm starting to shake.

"So, I'll see you there tomorrow night at the… BIG dance. Later, Kyle."

As the beep sounded, Kyle stumbled back a few steps as he occasionally quivered.

'Troll?' But why would he say th-" Kyle started to think, as realization smacked him across the face. Oh no! He must have been there, hiding somewhere. That's how he showed up out of nowhere! I should have known that creep and his goons would have no business anywhere near the Science building!

Kyle rubbed his right arm, his anxiety mounting. That means that he's totally going to do something tomorrow night! he thought panicky, his stomach rumbling. I can't go then… but Sandra. I've waited for this moment for years… what can I do?

Working himself into a near panic attack, Kyle's stomach started to produce the same sensation as it had earlier today. Although, this time, the sensation felt stronger. Starting to pace, Kyle did not even notice as his stomach began to bloat up once more. However, within a few seconds, it was hard to ignore.

Oh, man! the cat thought, seeing his expanding stomach, and growing more upset. This is just perfect!

As he grew, his enlarging body slowed his pacing. Looking down at his body, he was surprised and dismayed to notice he was growing much faster than he had earlier. In less then ten seconds, he had reached the same size he had in the bathroom.

Well, here I am once again like this, he thought. I'd better… get… calm?

Quizzically blinking in surprise, Kyle saw that his body was still growing. His stomach continued its steady expansion, and the rest of his body was following its example.

"What the h-e," Kyle started to say, until his swelling cheeks made it more difficult to speak.

As his widening torso spread out in all directions, his legs spread farther apart, while continuing to grow themselves. As his feet blew up, Kyle stumbled around, trying to steady his new girth. Suddenly, Kyle found it harder to breathe. He felt something cutting into his chest. Looking down, he saw the cause of his discomfort. His red shirt was stretched tight against his expanding chest, but it had reached the limits of even its XXL elasticity. Bending his thick arms inward, he tried to dig his sausage-like fingers under the material, to try to pull it off before he suffocated. Unfortunately, his torso had stretched the shirt so tight, it was impossible to dig his fat fingers under it.

Oh, man! What am I gonna do now? Kyle thought, the pain increasing.

This was going badly! He was now much larger then he had been, and his inflating body showed no signs of slowing down as he continued to round out like a cat balloon. Fear gripped him as he pondered that he might explode!

I can't breathe! he thought in a panic, causing his inflation to increase.

Suddenly, Kyle heard a ripping sound. Slowly, it became easier to breathe. Taking a deep breath, and inadvertently further puffing out his chest, Kyle's eyes bulged as he saw his red shirt practically explode off of him. It was too bad; he had liked the red shirt that now fell in tattered shreds to his bedroom floor. Though, as he was still inflating, the shirt was the least of his concerns.

As his arms were pushed outwards, becoming harder to bend, Kyle found it much more difficult to move at all. Though he tried, he wobbled in a small area as his body continued to balloon out at a steady pace.

In the kitchen below, Peter sat down at the table, running over what he planned to say to his son. Suddenly, his gaze cast towards the ceiling. The kitchen was, more or less, underneath Kyle's room, and Peter had heard an awful lot of stomping. He also heard other sounds that were both unsettling, and somewhat familiar to him. Standing, he started towards the stairs.

Oh no! he thought, I waited too long!

As the overstuffed lynx started up the stairs, his concerns started a rumbling in his stomach. As he passed the middle stair, his stomach began to expand.

In his room, Kyle stopped and took a few deep breaths. Amazingly, his body had finally stopped its inflation. The enormous cat staggered, mostly wobbling, on his fat feet moved so he could see himself in the full-length mirror he had on his closet door.

He was vastly larger than he had been in the bathroom at school. He judged mentally that he was nearly three times the size he had been this afternoon. His light underbelly, surrounded by his darker fur, jutted out in front of him like an over-inflated beach ball. It rounded out in all directions, and the massive furry globe had spread his tree trunk legs apart. Wobbling around, the curve of his waist continued in, more or less, a perfect circle all the way around him. Though his back had swelled out some, it did not compare to his front. Kyle nearly laughed when he caught sight of his tail and his rear. Both had grown drastically, with his tail looking like a tubular balloon one could bend into balloon animals. Once again, his stretched skin had stretched his stripes, accenting how big and round he now was.

Returning to his front, he noticed that his chest had swollen out, and how his upper torso still retained some definition, looking like an outcropping from the large stomach beneath it. The expansion had broadened his shoulders, and his arms looked comically swollen, right down to his cartoonish hands and fingers. With great effort, he could still bend them. Trying to put his arms down at his sides, he found that the inflated limbs would only obey him to an extent. He could lower them only a little bit from sticking straight out. Reaching his arms across and trying to link his hands across the top portion of his stomach, Kyle could merely brush fingertips, and only then with extreme force, pressing into his stomach with his swollen arms.

Even his head had not escaped the inexplicable inflation. Every part had swollen--his ears, his forehead, the back of his neck, his double chin, and his nearly volleyball-sized cheeks. Moving his head around, he could feel his thick neck rubbing against his ballooned back. His increased chin had almost completely swallowed his neck, though he could still discern the difference between the two, barely.

I'm so much bigger and rounder this time. Am I just going to keep inflating like this? Kyle thought, rubbing his stomach.

As he tried to calm himself down, like he had earlier in the day, he heard something in the hall outside his room. What he heard was footsteps. Oh no! It's Dad! I can't let him see me like this, blown up like a zeppelin, Kyle thought nervously. As he turned, trying to wobble to the door to block it with his body, Kyle's stomach began to respond to his nervousness, by expanding once more.

As he neared reaching distance of the door, the inflation picked up again. Unprepared for the growth, Kyle's swelling belly threw off his balance, and the large cat rolled forward off of his feet and onto his gut. As his fat face smacked into the carpet, Kyle let out an 'oof.' Pushing with his puffy hands, Kyle wobbled back and forth on his massive stomach, like a see saw. Unable to stand up, the beached cat merely kicked his large legs in the air, trying to reach a swollen paw to keep the door closed when, all of a sudden, three knocks sounded through his door.

"Kyle, open up. I think that we need to talk now," came his father's voice.

His mind racing for an excuse and trying to speak with his large cheeks impeding him, Kyle responded. "Uhm, not right now Dad… I'll… uhm, I'll be down in ten minutes!"

His bloated ears perked up as he heard the sound of his doorknob being turned. Kyle suddenly wished that he had locked the stupid door. Straining to reach, the opening door was still more then an arm's length out of his reach.

And now it's all over, Kyle thought on the ground, closing his eyes, not wanting to see his father's reaction.

After the door swung open, Peter Nekogami took a deep breath and exhaled. "Kyle," he said.

The bloated feline shook his head, not wanting to be seen.

"Looks like I waited too long to tell you," Peter said.

Kyle slowly opened his eyes and looked to the door. His mouth fell open as he saw his father outside his room. In the hallway, his father was inflated! The lynx stood larger then Kyle had been this afternoon, both his fists digging into the large sides of his stomach. His white, button up shirt, stretched against his enormous stomach, with his furry belly visible between the buttons, and his red tie now barely hanging past his chest.

"Dad?" Kyle asked.

Peter gave a few laughs and nodded his head. "Yeah, son, looks like you stumbled onto," he said, swinging his stomach with his hands, "our little family secret," Peter continued. "Though it looks like it's not so little, Kyle" he said.

Blushing, Kyle suddenly felt a great anxiety start to leave him.

"So, I think that we'd both better go down and have dinner and that talk I've been putting off. Though I think we'd better calm down and shed some inches," he said.

Moving forward, Peter's stomach wedged itself into the doorframe, preventing his entry into Kyle's room. "As you can see, I can't exactly get into rooms like this, and you can't even get up off the ground. When you deflate, I'll be waiting downstairs," his father said, waddling away.

Kyle lay there on his large stomach, unsure as to how to react. His dad could inflate as well? Kyle had been so afraid, afraid of popping, afraid of being found out, and now his dad was like him?

So, I'm not some freak… he thought, throwing a glance back at his body Well, sort of not a freak.

As his mind calmed, his body began to lessen. Within a minute or so, he could stand up again. When his body returned to its old, plus size, he fetched a new shirt out of the dresser. Stepping past the shreds of his old red shirt, Kyle exited his room and started downstairs. And now it's time for some answers, the cat thought determinedly.

As Kyle sat down at the kitchen table, his father rubbed his forehead. Looking over at his son, he could sense the questions in his mind. After all, he had had questions when his father sat him down as well. Wanting to finally explain, he started to talk. "Kyle," he began, "I guess you can tell that our family… isn't exactly like everyone else's."

"Bit of an understatement, Dad," Kyle said, trying to maintain his composure, not wanting to trigger another inflation.

Peter shook his head, feeling like he was already screwing this up, and he had only just begun.

Kyle saw that his father was at a loss for words, so he decided to be the next to speak. "Dad, just tell me why this is happening," he said.

Peter looked up. His son had always been logical, always wanting to cut to the chase when he really wanted to know something. Just like his mother. "Well, Kyle, I'm not entirely sure of all the details. But here goes," his father said, pausing to take a drink.

Reaching over, Peter pulled the unfamiliar photo album over, thumbing open to a page, he spoke again. "Well, it all started about the time that I was your age. Up till then, I had always… well, I had always been fat," he said, holding up a page which held a picture of Kyle's father as a kid.

On the page as well was a picture of Kyle's grandfather and his uncle Jack. Kyle's father and his twin brother were very fat, while their father was actually rather skinny. As his father flipped through a few pages, Kyle saw various pictures of his father and uncle as they grew, in more ways then one, into teenagers.

"Then around the time that Jack and I were seniors in high school, we started getting upset stomachs more and more, around the time we hit seventeen," the lynx said.

Kyle's eyebrow raised. His upset stomachs had started roughly around the same time.

"Also around that time, Grandpa had been laid off from his work, and we were in danger of losing our home." Kyle remembered his Grandpa telling him about that. "To help out, Jack and I took two jobs each, in addition to going to school. But even with our help, we were still barely scraping by. And that only caused Jack and me to worry more."

"And one day," Kyle interrupted, "you two finally got overly anxious and blew up like balloons?"

With a flash of his brow, Kyle's dad flipped open to a new page. The page contained several photos of the pair, blown up to different sizes. "You guessed it. It was then that Grandpa told us about our family secret…" he said. "He did it too late as well."

"Dad, it's all right," Kyle said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "This isn't really the sort of thing that would be easy to bring up."

"But, we did talk, and he told us that this had run in our family for generations," Peter said, flipping open to different pages.

Kyle looked through, seeing even older photographs, pictures of his great grandfather, and even older news clippings of a "barn-sized cat resident" from old newspapers.

"For some reason though, it sometimes skips a generation, like it did with my father. So, I had hoped that the same would be true for you… but I guess it wasn't."

"But, Dad," Kyle started in again, "why do we inflate? When will we do it? Is it like every full moon or something?"

Peter blinked twice at his son and then responded. "Kyle, first off, we're not were-humans, so get any bad monster movies out of your head. To answer the second, you know that I'm a biochemist, and I've dedicated a long time to discovering the how.

"From what I've discovered, our bodies produce a strange type of gas from nearly the time of our births. This gas has expansionary properties and builds up in our bodies throughout our lives. This is what gives us our," Peter said, patting his large stomach, "larger size without actually making us too heavy… we have our penchant for cream-filled pastries to thank for that."

"That explains why I've been unable to really slim down these past years," Kyle said, nodding in agreement with the 'pastry' comment.

"Tell me about it," his father said, "judging by my gut, I look like I weigh somewhere over 400 pounds, when I barely weigh 280. As I was saying, the gas builds up in our bodies throughout our lives, causing us to expand. However, when we get really worked up, through anxiety or panicking for example, our bodies drastically increase production of the gas, causing us to really blimp up."

"So, it's kind of like that fruit drink they make over in Ocean's Hollow? That stuff uses some weird carbonate like this, right?" Kyle asked, remembering the news story on the Ocean Fruit Juice Company from a few months back, an interview with a strangely large kangaroo.

"Yeah, sort of," his dad answered, "though the carbonate they use doesn't stay in their systems for more then a few hours. Our bodies produce something similar, only naturally, and even more so when we get agitated. Heck, I got so nervous about talking to you today that I started expanding before work! And once again on my way up to your room, which you recall."

"Yeah. I got so anxious at school that I swelled up in the bathroom. And then, after hearing my phone messages, well, you recall that sight too."

"At school?" Kyle's dad asked, "Oh I'm sorry, Kyle."

"Yeah, well. No one saw me, I think. But, Dad," he said, "I saw you blown up pretty big and you were still wearing your shirt. Mine nearly choked me before it popped off. How'd you keep yours on?"

The lynx gave a few laughs and then walked over to the laundry room. When he returned, he placed a can of Spray Stretch down on the table. "Every week I give all my clothes a thorough soaking with this stuff. And after, they usually manage to stretch along with me to whatever size I may reach that week… usually."

"Usually?" Kyle asked, suddenly realizing why his father had bought so much Spray Stretch over the years.

Rolling his eyes, Peter's thumb moved to another page in his photo album. Holding up the book, Kyle nearly laughed at the sight of a younger version of his father, swollen up like a weather balloon on his college's football field, with the words "GO TEAM" painted on his stomach. Looking up at his father, Kyle felt at a loss for words. Though not at a loss for laughs.

"Look, it was college… We all did weird things," his dad said, snapping the book closed.

"But Dad, that meant that others knew about what you could do. How did you do that?"

"Well, one day I just got sick and tired of keeping secrets from the people I cared about," his father said. "Yeah, some people were too weirded out by an inflatable fat cat, but most of my friends didn't mind. And then I met your mom," his father said, his voice going softer with remembrance. "And after that, I stopped hearing anything negative that people said."

Flipping through his book, Peter showed his son various pictures of himself with Lauren. Kyle felt warm as he saw the smiling cat standing with the lynx throughout so many years. He laughed aloud at a shot of his father inflated, floating in a pool, with his mother using him as a raft.

"And so now you know about our little family secret, Kyle," his dad said.

As Kyle nodded, the front doorbell rang.

"Kyle! You there?" came Red's voice through the door.

Looking to the door, and back to his dad, Kyle didn't know what to do. "That's Red. Should I let him in? Should I tell him?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle, I can't tell you what you should do," Peter said, in a very fatherly tone of voice. "You've got to make this choice yourself. You can keep it a secret if you choose, but you and Red have been best friends for a long time. And I hated keeping secrets from my friends."

The tubby cat leaned back in his chair, pondering just how long he and the bull had known each other. It was nearly seven years, and they had been there for each other for those years. And yet, this was quite a thing to tell someone.

Standing from the table, Kyle decided. "Maybe I'm already tired of keeping secrets," he said, picking up the can of Spray Stretch from the table. Dousing his shirt in the scented spray, Kyle went to answer the door. He hoped that Red had his camera with him, because he was going give him quite a sight.

Nearly an hour later, and after several demonstrations from Kyle and his father, Red still did not know what to make of all this. His friend, who had always been heavy, was actually like some sort of furry balloon? This was definitely unexpected.

"Well, Red?" Kyle asked, deflating back to his old size.

"Well, Kyle, this is by far the most unusual thing I've ever seen in my life," the bull said with a nervous laugh. "But, you and me are friends, and I know that this hasn't exactly been easy for you to deal with either. I'm still dealing with this, but you've got my support."

Kyle felt a wave of relief wash over him. He wondered if he ever truly questioned how Red would react. He knew his best friend better then that, if he had not, he would have told Red to go away instead of inviting him in.

Looking over at the two, Peter was proud of his son and his friend. Both had handled this unusual news. As Peter went into the kitchen to get some sodas, the phone rang. Being closest, Kyle answered.

"Sandra!" Kyle said in shock.

"Yeah, of course we're still on for tomorrow night," he said.

"Today?" he said nervously. "Uhm, well… you see it's just that…" Kyle suddenly felt a hit on the side of his stomach. Looking down angrily, he saw Red pointing. Brow furrowed, he looked to where he was pointing, straight at Kyle's slowly expanding stomach. His eyes bulging, he slowly calmed himself down as he continued talking. "Yeah, I got a little sick. Heh heh, avoid the taco surprise the next time the cafeteria serves it."

"So, yeah," he continued. "I'll see you at the dance tomorrow night at seven sharp. See ya then!"

Hanging up the phone, Kyle fell into a chair. Looking at himself, his stomach had gained a few inches from his nervousness. "Well," he said, "at least we don't have school tomorrow. I should be able to stay calm and relax before the dance. But that still leaves Travis to worry about… and I think that he may know something about my little secret."

"How could he know?"

"I'm not sure… it's just something about his phone message. His use of 'swell' and 'big' just seemed too peculiar to idly dismiss."

Red scratched his chin. "I agree," the bull said, an idea forming in his mind. "Well, you leave monkey boy to me. I think I might have a way to deal with them. I still owe those creeps for breaking my new telephoto lens by playing catch with it."

Kyle remembered Red's eyes turning redder then his hair that day, and he almost swore he saw steam shoot out of his nostrils too. "How will you take care of them?"

"Well, if they try anything, I'll just…" the bull said, going into his plan.

The clock neared seven as Kyle started across the bridge to the central part of Lakeside Park where the annual Spring Dance was being held this year. It was the perfect time of year for an evening dance outside. It was still too early to worry about high humidity or mosquitoes, but not too late to enjoy the occasional cool breeze. As the sun approached the horizon, the sky turned to differing shades of red and orange, reflecting in the lake below him. Around him on the narrow bridge, he saw the park's antique style street lamps begin to glow.

As he neared the end of the bridge, he passed by a friend he had not seen in a while. It was his friend Justin. The skunk had been pretty sick this past month and still looked under the weather. Kyle stopped and briefly conversed with his friend, learning that he still felt weak but was not going to miss the last Spring Dance of his high school years. Moving on, he spotted Red waving at him from inside the dance pavilion. At his side was his large camera bag, though he was using a small 35mm camera instead of his usual larger manual one. And then suddenly, all else disappeared as Sandra Winters came into view.

Standing beside a lamppost in an elegant white gown, complete with a slit running up her left leg. Kyle worked very hard to keep from inflating right there and then. Reaching a finger under his black bow tie, he loosened it slightly. The tuxedo shirt, jacket, and red cummerbund fit him perfectly thanks to the Spray Stretch. Calmly, he joined her right as the clock chimed seven.

"Right on time, as promised," the cat said calmly.

"Good," the lioness responded playfully, "I do hate to wait."

Linking arms the tuxedo-clad cat and the lioness walked into the pavilion, starting to dance as they hit the floor. From across the floor, amidst the flash of multi-colored lights and the pound of the DJ's music, a group stood watching the pair. Dark smiles appeared across their faces as they saw the fat cat walk in. Though no one enjoyed this sight more than the dark gorilla standing in the center.

Now we have some fun, he thought, straightening his mussed tuxedo jacket and sloppily tied polka dot bow tie.

Putting down the unopened beer bottles they had snuck in behind a large potted plant, the gang started over towards the two. Enjoying themselves, they did not notice Red move in behind them, turning towards the bottles now hidden behind the potted plant.

An hour into the Spring Dance, and the entire pavilion was alive with energy. Everywhere one looked, one could only see happy teenagers dancing as the lights and music blasted. Kyle, for his size, was actually light on his feet, much to Sandra's surprise. He had kept pace with her for the past hour, no matter the tempo.

"You're a great dancer, Kyle" Sandra said, giving a whirl.

"You're not so bad yourself," Kyle responded, as the song died down.

Slowly, the flashing strobe lights were replaced with slow moving white lights, as the music became slower. Looking around, Kyle saw couples linking up for a slow dance.

Oh man, a slow dance! Kyle thought, both excited and nervous.

Looking over, he extended his thick paw to Sandra. This was the moment he had waited and hoped for these past years, and it was finally coming true. As she accepted his paw and moved into his arms, she gazed into his deep brown eyes. "Sandra, I just wanted to say…" Kyle began, before being interrupted by a strong hand clamping down on his shoulder from behind.

Turning, he saw the ugly smiles of Travis and his cohorts staring him in the face. They all looked too happy; this was not a good sign. Giving the cat's shoulder a few hard squeezes, Travis began to speak. "Kyle, Sandra, glad to see you two having so much fun," the gorilla said, wrapping an arm around Kyle.

The cat attempted to hide his disgust at being touched by the dirty ape, though Sandra was not trying so hard.

"Travis," the lioness said in an irritated voice, "get lost."

"Now now, Sandra dear," Travis responded with a toothy smile, "I just wanted to make this moment a little more special for you two." With that he removed his arm from Kyle's shoulder. Turning his back to the pair, he called out to the rest of the pavilion. "Hey, everyone! Look over here!" he bellowed.

As his screams drowned out the music, people began to look towards the source of the noise, annoyance marring their faces. Seeing everyone looking towards Sandra and he, the cat felt himself growing nervous.

"Kyle is dancing with Sandra, so let's everyone give them our attention. It's their first date!"

With that, many people began to laugh. Suddenly, a bright spotlight hit the couple. Kyle began to sweat and, much to his dismay, started to feel the familiar sensation rising in his belly. Looking over at Sandra, he tried to talk. "Sandra, I think that I have to--oof!" he said, being shoved from behind.

This was exactly the moment Travis had been waiting for! As the spotlight hit the cat, he started to see his stomach slowly expand, just as Roy had described! Now, he just had to turn up the heat a little bit.

Sandra managed to keep from falling down as Kyle smacked into her. Shooting an evil glance at Travis, she steadied her dance partner. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Kyle said, "I think so."

"Come on, you two!" the gorilla called out. "Dance already!"

With that, the remainder of Travis' cronies chimed in, urging the pair to dance. With a little help, a lot of the people watching them began to chant the wish too. Kyle could only feel the heat from the spotlight, the rising pressure in his stomach, and his overwhelming desire to leave… NOW!

"Come on, Kyle" Sandra said, taking his paw into hers. "Let's give them the show they want!"

With that, a slow melody poured out of the speakers. Slowly, Kyle tried to lead his partner around the ring that had formed around them. However, as they passed the goons, Travis gave Kyle a sharp slap on his back, sending him reeling.

A trained ballroom dancer, Sandra quickly turned the near fall into a series of magnificent turns. Poor Kyle, however, was now nervous and dizzy. Sandra was determined to not let Travis ruin the date that she had been looking forward to. But Kyle was looking awfully nervous. Suddenly, as they began their third time around the circle, Sandra felt something strange. It felt like something pressing against her midsection, pushing her outwards. Looking down, she saw Kyle's tuxedo-clad stomach growing, pushing her away. Returning a look of alarm and surprise, she saw Kyle's face turn very sad, as he simply whispered, "I'm sorry" as he grew.

As Sandra was finally pushed out of Kyle's grasp by his fattening form, Travis and his friends could no longer hold in their laughter. Some falling to the ground, Travis merely stood there snickering. "It's not over yet, cat."

In addition to Travis' group, many people throughout the audience began to laugh at the sight of the ballooning cat. Looking around him, seeing only silhouettes in the blinding spotlight and hearing their cruel laughter, Kyle's anxiety continued to grow.

Sandra did not know how to react as her date swelled up like a giant beach ball. She merely stood back, hoping that it would end soon. Kyle could not calm himself down and was now inflating much faster then he had on previous occasions. Counting his lucky stars for having doused the tuxedo coat, shirt, and bow tie, he thought that he was about to give the compound a run for its money. Spotting a door twenty feet from his present location, the inflating cat waddled on swelling feet towards it. Unfortunately, the door was twenty feet behind Travis.

As the cat approached him, Travis stuck out his large ape hand, digging it into Kyle's gigantic stomach. "Un-unh balloon boy," he said in a sinister voice. "You're not done quite yet."

Fear filled Kyle's face as Travis continued to give his dark smile. With a smirk, Travis and Roy pushed the large cat back into the circle. However, Kyle had widened too much, and the two had pushed too hard. As his legs and feet kept growing, the cat tripped over himself and toppled over backwards. First landing on his back, his momentum bounced him onto his growing stomach. Shaking his head, feeling his volleyball-sized cheeks hitting his shoulders, Kyle realized that, in just under half-a-minute, he was already larger then he had been in his bedroom.

This isn't good, Kyle thought, trying to bend his arms unsuccessfully.

Casting his glance to his left and right, his arms were now enormous balloons, sticking straight out to his sides, shrinking only slightly at the wrists, with bloated hands with fingers like soda cans! Looking down, he saw the ground slowly move away from him. As the curve of his torso continued to grow, Kyle found himself wobbling. In a few moments, his expanding stomach rolled him onto his back. Though his back had drastically ballooned out, it was nowhere near as big as his stomach.

Now lying, more or less, on his back, Kyle looked down his face, seeing the tuxedo-clad globe continue to grow, starting to block most of his field of vision. As his massive chin pressed into his chest, Kyle saw Travis (upside down) still smirking.

Feeling his anxiety and fear replaced with anger, his body slowed and finally stopped its inflation. Still looking at the smirking gorilla, Kyle could see Sandra out of the corner of his eye. He felt like his torso was like a small weather balloon, with a puffy chest sticking out from it, along with two wide, stubby legs with giant feet, and similar arms emerging from the round furry globe.

She must hate me! Kyle thought, sadness welling up in him.

Sadly, he could not see the lioness' face, displaying nothing but sympathy and compassion for her escort. No anger could be seen in her gentle face… at least, anger towards anyone aside from Travis.

As Kyle unsuccessfully attempted to move his bloated arms to roll himself onto his front, he started to think that Travis' mean prank had come to fruition. That is, until he saw the monkey and his goons walking towards him. His eyes widened as he bent down to speak into the cat's large ears. "Now, let's have some fun beach ball," he said darkly.

With a snap of his fingers, Kyle felt hands start to press into his blimped body. Hearing a few light grunts, the beached cat saw the room start to spin. Within a few seconds, he realized that Travis' friends were rolling him like a barrel.

The large gorilla stepped in front of the rolling cat, indicating for the crowd to clear a path to the stage. As he waved his hands, the students reluctantly obeyed, many having stopped laughing at the situation.

"Yeah, move outta the way!" called out Luke, a brown bear helping to roll Kyle.

"Come on, wide load coming through!" chimed in Roy.

Each of the thugs took their turns in taunting Kyle, Pete the shark, and Steve the red lizard.

Kyle began to wonder where his captors were rolling him to, until he saw, in his spinning field of vision there destination, the main stage! Kyle tried in vain to halt his spinning, but he was eventually hefted onto the main stage.

"Gosh!" called out Pete. "How can a balloon weigh that much?"

Leaping on stage, Travis walked up to the microphone in center stage. With another snap of his fingers, his friends walked over to Kyle once more. With a few more light grunts, they spun Kyle around on his stomach, so that his face looked out onto the crowd.

With a more sinister smile on his face, Travis removed the mike from its stand, and leaned into the massive cat. "Kyle!" he said into the mike, "do you have anything to say to the people here tonight?"

Holding the mike close to the cat's face, Kyle tried to scream out. Tried to call Travis every name that he'd thought of these past years. Tried to finally tell him off, no matter the consequences. However, his cheeks, now larger then basketballs, made it impossible for him to make any sounds beyond muffled grunts.

Patting Kyle's right cheek, Travis spoke into the microphone once more. "Nothing to say, Kyle? Well, everyone," he said, standing up from leaning on his victim. "I know what Kyle meant to say was that he just wanted to make this dance extra special."

Kyle did not like the sounds of giggling coming from Travis' goons as they started to roll him again, this time making him face stage right. "And what better way to do that then with a," he said, moving out of the way, "BALLOON DROP!"

With that, the goons sunk their hands into Kyle's enormous midsection once more, rolling him much faster up to the end of the stage. With a final heave from Travis himself, the blimp like cat went spinning off the stage. The crowd cleared a path as he landed, bouncing a few times, and rolled out the large double doors at the back.

Few people in the audience laughed as Kyle exited the pavilion, all except those on stage, who were now rolling on the floor themselves, engulfed in spasms of laughter. Sandra, filled with concern, ran after Kyle, often pushing people out of her way.

Outside, Kyle rolled to a stop near the bridge. Choking back his tears, he somehow managed to calm himself and started to deflate. As he reached the size he had been yesterday in his room, Sandra caught up with him. She stood speechless until Kyle finally stood up, his old spare tire now back to its normal, large size.

"Oh, Kyle…" she started.

"Sandra, I don't blame you if you hate me right now," he said.

"Hate you?" she asked.

"For… for THAT in there," he said, waving a paw towards the pavilion.

Moving towards the cat, Sandra took his right paw into hers. "Kyle," she said softly. "What happened in there was unfortunate. And, while I wish that you had told me about your… condition beforehand, I think that I can understand why you didn't. I'm sorry that Travis and his creeps did that to you."

Kyle was confused. He had just inflated to nearly weather balloon size in the middle of the biggest dance of their senior year, and she didn't hate him?

"Of course," she said, rolling her eyes, "you'd better not keep any other major secrets from me if we're going to be an item."

"Well, I don't really have any other sec…" the cat looked up. "'Item'? You and me?"

The lioness' lips curled into a small smile. "Well, I've waited years for you to get the guts up to ask me out. What am I supposed to do? Wait for you to ask me to go steady too? Un-unh, I'm taking charge here, buster," she said, playfully poking her finger into his chest twice. "And I say that you and me are going out."

Kyle's face lit up, a grin from ear to ear. "Yes ma'am!" he said, giving her a salute.

The two shared a long laugh in the lamplight, under the clear night sky. As they stopped laughing, the two then gazed into each other's eyes. Slowly, the two moved closer together. Nearly in a kiss, the moment was ruined by a loud call from behind them.

Turning around in disgust, the pair saw Travis and his group sauntering towards them, each of them carrying a bottle in their hands (which the two supposed were beer bottles that they had snuck in). Kyle glared as they approached.

"Wasn't that fun, fatso?" Travis called as he approached.

"Huh huh, fun," chimed in Luke and Steve.

As they neared, Sandra stepped between them, her face less then a few inches from Travis'. "Back off Travis, I mean it," Sandra said, baring her teeth.

Still smiling, Travis took a few steps back. "No problem, Sandy," he said, knowing how much she hated that name. "I'll just see you on Monday, Kyle," he called over her shoulder. "And every day after. We'll have some more fun then." With a few laughs, Travis started over the bridge.

"Ha," called out Roy, "she likes balloon boy so much, maybe she's inflatable too!"

As the gang burst out laughing, Kyle had to hold Sandra back, her claws fully extended and trying to swipe at them. Drawing her back, the two heard another voice call out to them from behind. Turning, they saw Red walking over to them. Glad to see a friendly face, the two welcomed him. "Kyle, I'm so sorry," he said. "I thought that my plan would work, but it didn't. I'm sorry."

Grasping the bull's shoulder with her paw, Sandra tried to soothe him. "It's all right, Red. We'll deal with this together as it develops," she said.

Looking up, the bull gave a small smile.

"Yeah, man. Together," Kyle started. "It's too bad, the plan was a good one."

"What was this plan of yours, Red?" Sandra asked, confused.

"Well, you see," the bull began, before being interrupted.

As the dance let out, and people began to leave the pavilion, the trio heard the continuingly rude noises of Travis and his group, and one other. Looking, they saw the group now harassing a skunk. Looking closer, it was Justin!

The poor skunk had left the dance early, feeling sick. Now, on the bridge, the gang had begun to drink from the bottles and were teasing the sickly Justin as they passed him.

"Outta the way, sicky," Roy said, taking a long swig from his bottle.

Travis moved passed him, taking a long drink. "And another thing, skunk," Travis said, spinning around with his arm extended.

Acting without thinking, as usual, Travis didn't realize just how close he was to Justin. And, as he spun around, his simian hand connected with the skunk's chest, sending him flying off the bridge. Kyle's eyes nearly shot out of his skull as he saw his friend fly from the bridge. He had been so sick recently, there was no way that he could swim in his current state. Without thinking, the chubby cat took off at a run across the bridge.

Quickly reaching the group, who all shared stunned looks, most continuing to drink from their bottles, turned their attention to Kyle.

"Help him; you're the athletes!" Kyle yelled.

Travis merely stood there, torn between making a rude comment to Kyle and trying to figure out what just happened.

Seeing that his pleas were falling on deaf, and rather stupid, ears, Kyle moved to the railing. He had always hated water and swimming; it was just in his cat nature. Looking around, he saw Justin, and he was unconscious! Anxiety rising, Kyle saw that the crowd from the pavilion were racing over, but they were still too far away to help Justin, who could go under at any time.

What can I do? Kyle thought.

Suddenly, his mind flashed back to yesterday, to his father's photo album. Specifically, to the picture of his father in the pool, with his mother using him like a raft. His face lighting up, Kyle used al his strength to hurl his ample self over the railing and started to fall towards the lake like a stone. Closing his eyes, the foolishness of this act caught up with him, as he hoped it would. As his anxiety and fear grew, so did he. When he hit the water, his stomach was already the size of a large beach ball.

Submerging briefly, the inflating cat bobbed to the surface of the lake, wobbling around like a buoy. Shaking his head, and using his still swelling hands to get the water out of his eyes, Kyle quickly looked to where Justin was. Much to his luck, the skunk floated within reach. However, as his body fattened out, it grew harder to reach beyond his belly. Gritting his teeth, Kyle managed to snag Justin and draw him close, keeping his head out of the water. Looking around for a way out of the lake, Kyle's inflation slowed, though still continued.

"Kyle! Grab hold!" Red called from above.

Looking skyward, Kyle saw Red's camera strap dangling above him.

Slinging Justin across the large curve of the upper part of his body, as if his body was that of a life raft, Kyle reached his ballooned hands upwards. Grabbing the black strap, Red shot him thumbs up.

Red slowly walked back down the bridge, towing the large, floating cat like a tugboat leading an overfilled barge. As they reached the edge of the lake nearest the pavilion, the crowd had finally arrived, and many people helped to take Justin and Kyle out of the water. It took two people to take Justin away, hurrying him to the hospital, while it took quite a few more to heft the floating balloon cat from the lake. Deflating, Kyle saw Sandra and Red hurrying towards him.

With a leap, Sandra nearly knocked him back into the lake. "Oh, Kyle! That was so brave of you!" she cried.

"And pretty silly! Man, I hate swimming," responded the soaked cat.

Looking down, his tuxedo was soaked. He had already given it a real workout tonight with his inflations, even with the Spray Stretch. There was no chance that he was getting his deposit back now. But, looking over at Justin heading for the hospital, Kyle did not seem to care.

As Sandra leaned close to the tubby cat, ready to start up where they left off, they were once again interrupted by Travis and his friends.

"Yeah, so what! The balloon freak got a little wet!" he called, finishing his drink.

Though some in the crowd had enjoyed Travis' prank, the whole of their opinions now turned against him. Not only had he knocked the poor skunk into the lake and not jumped in after him, but now he was insulting the cat who had had the courage to do that, despite what had happened earlier that night.

Red was about to throw in his two cents, and possibly a few punches, when he spotted something. A devilish smile formed on his face as he saw the, now empty, bottles in their hands.

Roy found himself disagreeing with the slop coming out of Travis' mouth and was about to tap him on the shoulder to tell him to chill out, when suddenly he heard laughs coming from the crowd. Confused, he saw some of them pointing towards them. About to speak up, he heard Pete scream behind him. Turning, he saw the shark looking down at his stomach, which was inflating like a gray balloon. Looking all around at their group, he saw that no one was escaping the expansion, including himself. Reaching his clawed hands inward, Roy tried to keep his green scaled belly from spreading. However, he had no luck.

Travis was the last to notice, having just finished his drink, and was finally snapped to attention by the swelling brown balloon that he was becoming. Looking at his hand, he saw that the bottle that he held was not of the cheap beer that he usually bought, instead the label read "Ocean Fruit Juice, now with extra carbonation!" Dropping the glass bottle, his arms were pushed up and out by his stomach, as his and his friends' tuxedos started to rip off of their growing bodies.

Sandra stood there confused, until the bottle that Travis had dropped rolled to her feet. Picking it up, she read the label. "Of course! This is that drink with the weird carbonation that they make over in Ocean's Hollow! I'd heard that the stuff causes you to inflate, but, "she said, looking over at the ballooning jocks, "I had no idea that big. But, how did they drink it? I thought they only sold this stuff in Ocean's Hollow," Sandra asked.

"And that would be my doing," Red said proudly. "You see, a couple of months ago, my cousin Ralph's football team was playing their rivals, I think the, uhm, the Stone River Marauders. Anyways, they all drink this stuff before the game and boom! The team blows up like Kyle!" Kyle shot Red a sidelong look. "So, like I was saying," Red started again, catching Kyle's icy glance. "As a souvenir, I bought a couple cases of the stuff they drank. And, upon hearing about Travis' possible prank, and knowing that he and his goons would try to sneak beer into the dance, I made a little switch. Fortunately, they were too stupid to notice the difference. Unfortunately, they didn't drink until after the prank."

Returning their gaze over to the group, the trio burst out in laughter at the sight of the annoying gorilla, alligator, bear, shark, and lizard blowing up like balloons. While Roy, Pete, Steve, and Luke finally stopped inflating, Travis continued to expand. The four had not finished their whole bottles of the amazing drink, but had drank enough to cause their stomachs to swell up larger than over-inflated giant beach balls. Big and round, they waddled around on their swollen feet, while some tried to steady themselves with their fat tails. Steve rolled forward on his massive stomach, while Luke and Roy tried to keep from doing the same. Each of the four had become over-stuffed sumo balloons, with fat faces to match. However, Travis had grown larger then any of them. Having completely downed all of his drink, the gorilla had swollen into a large globe, with a swollen head and short, stubby appendages sticking out of the mass.

His face turning a bright red, Travis yelled despite his large, basketball-sized cheeks. "Someone help me here! Help me or else I'll--" he started to bellow.

"Oh, shut up!" Roy yelled, digging a fat fist into his spherical stomach.

"Yeah!" echoed the blimped bear.

"It's your fault that this happened, Travis!" Steve called from the ground.

"And we're sick of getting flack for your stupid pranks!" Pete chimed in, waving fat fingers at the immobile monkey.

Travis, for the first time in his life, was at a loss for words. All he could do was lay there, and roll around on his stomach.

"And then they turn on each other! How do you like that, Kyle?" Red said.

Not receiving a response, Red turned to his friend.

"Kyle? I sai… oops," the bull said, noting the reason for his friend's silence.

Kyle and Sandra were deeply locked in a passionate kiss. A moment that not even the hilarious sight of Travis being passed and rolled around by some in the crowd like a giant beach ball at a concert could interrupt. As they pulled away, Kyle was greeted with a hail of congratulations about his rescue of Justin and questions about his 'ability.' Looking back, he saw Travis' former group expressing remorse and apologies with their swollen faces. As they waddled off, with Pete rolling Steve away like a bowling ball, Kyle had to smirk.

Smiling, he threw his heavy arm around Sandra's shoulders, the other around Red. Together, amidst a hail of questions and praise, the trio walked off towards home. Monday would be different; Travis was right about that much. But, it was going to be different for the better for the three of them, but especially for Kyle and his girlfriend, Sandra.