Friday, September 2, 2011

Handful of Sand Chapter 40 Page 1

A week had passed.

Thus far, Sandy had survived on television and music. Possibly her greatest achievement was to finish reading one book, a children's novel, the most interesting of the texts that her nice guardians had brought for her.

Her diet during her stay at the safe house had been mostly takeout. The pizza and soft drinks for dinner that evening had been delicious.

Officer Murphy had tried to cook once. It had taken a long time to prepare the meal since many of the requirements had been missing - there had been no ladle or kitchen knife, and there had been no gas. Cleaning up after that had been a chore. Since then, no one bothered to cook anymore. It had been easier to order takeout or microwave food and dump the trash after that.

The microwave oven had been a lifesaver. It provided all of Sandy's nutritional needs. Right up until the moment it had died earlier that afternoon.

R-I-P microwave oven. Your services would be missed.

Sandy had just finished her evening shower. She toweled herself dry and stepped out of the shower stall. She heard the crack of thunder outside.

Well, she was not concerned about it. The house had held up during the thunderstorm the previous day. She just had to close the bedroom window or else the wooden floor would get wet... the bedroom window!

The girl hurriedly hung her towel. Then she rushed out of the bathroom and into her bedroom to close the window. It was very fortunate that one of the bathroom doors opened directly into the bedroom. Or else she would have given Officer Brown outside a pleasant surprise.

It was also very fortunate that directly outside the window was a backyard surrounded by a tall wooden fence. Or else she would have given the neighbors a free show as she stood at the window, staring up at the dark skies. Rain had not started yet.

Lightning flashed once. Sandy retreated from the window before the boom reached her ears.

On an impulse, she pinched her waist. Huh? It was a lot thicker than she had remembered it to be.

Sandy switched on the desk lamp and stepped to the full-length mirror to examine herself. Her bottom appeared larger than usual.

Was she putting on weight? Why was she getting wider? (The reasons should be obvious.)

Goodness, was she going to be as fat as Momma Lois!?

With concern about her weight on her mind, Sandy got dressed. She put on the T-shirt that Selina had given her and was relieved that it still fit. What would she do if she grew too wide for her clothes? She would have to buy herself a new wardrobe. Well, money would not be a problem once she was rich.

But she was going to be huge. Her friends in school would not recognize her. She would look like an Air Blimp next to Ariel. Maybe Ariel would be friends again.

Look, Ariel, I got fat just to be like you! (Really, Sandy had thought that something like that would impress the blond.)

The waistband of her sweatpants dug a little deeper into her sides than she remembered. But there was not anything she could do about it. She stepped out of her bedroom.

Officer Brown at the front window blew an amused snort when he saw the target symbol on Sandy's shirt. Then Officer Murphy on the sofa did the same.

Sandy joined Officer Murphy on the sofa.

"Whatever possessed you to wear a shirt like that?" Officer Murphy asked as she pushed a lock of black hair out of her eyes.

"Oh, I like this shirt," Sandy said, "A friend gave it to me. It's soft and comfortable."

"You've weird friends," the female officer muttered.

On the television at that moment was the news. There was mention of the Independence Day parade and messages from the politicians - nothing that Sandy found interesting. So she went to the kitchen for something to eat, despite the fact that she had just eaten dinner.

The microwave had not been fixed or replaced yet. Otherwise, she would heat a frozen snack for herself - a warm sausage roll would have been nice on that cold rainy night. Instead, Sandy poured herself a bowlful of chips. She really liked the salty taste and was sure she could squeeze in a little more food into her stomach.

(Is there still any doubt to the reason why Sandy was gaining weight?)

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