Pesca woke up confused. She didn’t remember falling asleep.
Her head hurt.
She tried to rub her forehead, but her wrists were tied down. She was in a hospital bed, and her hands and feet were restrained. Panicked, she looked around and determined she wasn’t in a hospital. The walls were grimy, and water could be heard in the distance. It looked like a sewer; a very old sewer. She wracked her brain trying to remember what she was doing before she found herself here but was interrupted by voices.
Pesca craned her neck to find out where they were coming from. Two men rounded a corner. They were dressed in worker’s overalls and casually speaking in Italian. They looked similar and were most likely brothers.
“Please, help me! I don’t know how I got here, but I’m scared out of my mind,” Pesca said.
They ignored her. Their tone didn’t change as they approached the bed. The one with the auburn moustache was carrying a large apothecary jar. Something was floating in the viscous briny liquid inside, but she couldn’t make it out.
“Hello! Do. You. Speak. English?” she yelled. Auburn placed the jar at her feet. The floating object was clearer. It was a massive mushroom with a red cap and white spots. As it rotated in the brine, she saw two black spots on the stem. If she didn’t know better, Pesca would swear that they were eyes, “Seriously, what is wrong with you?”
Green pulled a dropper out of his overall pocket and dipped it in the brine then walked over to the head of the bed.
“Don’t even think about-“ Pesca said as the man squeezed the dropper.
Pesca flinched as the cool liquid splattered on her forehead and ran down her face. It evaporated before it got far, “What was that?” The two men didn’t answer. They turned and walked away continuing their conversation like nothing was out of the ordinary. She suddenly felt hot all over.
Her skin felt like an overstuffed sausage casing. Her feet were straining in her heels. She couldn’t kick them off because of how tight they were, but they were only getting worse. There was a pop and the soles separated from the leather of the tops. Her bare feet grew before her eyes leaving only shredded remains of her prized Michael Kors. The metal MK logos shot off and stuck into the wall with the force. Cramps ran through her legs as they lengthened as well. Her restraints were digging in deep as her ankles grew thicker. Her breasts slowly started inflating obscuring her view of her feet. Her bra strap dug into her back before the hooks gave out with a snap. The bra fell but was caught by her breasts and held against her by their newfound weight. Her pink sundress was riding up her body as everything grew. It now looked like a midriff baring tank top. The elastic of her underwear was straining. The bed groaned in protest of her increased weight. She writhed as the cramps rippled through her, and the chains of her restraints snapped surprisingly easily.
She accidentally kicked over the jar. Cool liquid splashed all over her legs and the cramping, which was starting to abate, intensified. Her dress ripped along the sides until it was clean in half. She could feel herself getting bigger. She actually got vertigo from growing too fast. The wheels of the bed gave out, and the whole thing crashed to the ground. Within seconds her arms, legs, and head were way beyond the bed. Her panties shredded into pink confetti and her dress fell to the ground.
Pesca clamored to her feet and nearly hit her head on the ceiling. She had to duck, and still continued growing. The mushroom from the jar withered and crumbled, and all of the liquid evaporated. She could hear the two men still chatting as they walked down a distant hall.
Rage filled her as she thought about what they did to her, and without thinking about her current state, she ran after them. The ceiling was getting lower, so she had to crawl. As her breasts swung, the now comically tiny bra fell to the ground.
She was on her hands and knees, naked, in a sewer, and following two strange men. Even crawling the walls were getting closer. Her claustrophobia was really kicking in, but the men were right in front of her. They turned when they heard her heavy breathing behind them.
“MAMA MIA!” Auburn cried. The both ran for it, but Pesca grabbed him. Green ran through a pipe that was too narrow for Pesca to fit through. She shoved her hand in, but he barely made it past her fingers.
When she pulled her hand back the whole tunnel came with it. Pesca flexed and it shattered. The mortar was ancient. The bricks were cracked. Green stood on the other side in daylight watching her. She had an idea but needed both hands. She popped the protesting Auburn into her mouth and started ripping up bricks and tossing them behind her. She couldn’t bring herself to hurt the man, but got certain satisfaction in his fear after what he had done. Her manicure was suffering, but she managed to widen the tunnel enough to crawl through. She held Auburn in place with her tongue to keep him from falling down her throat as she crawled toward Green.
Green ran for it as Pesca burst out of the tunnel into daylight. People screamed. She looked around and saw canals with boats full of people. Tourists on walking paths were taking pictures of her, while locals were making a run for it. She wanted to tell them that she meant them no harm, but her mouth was full. If she pulled Auburn out it may freak out more people. All the gawkers caused her to remember that she was completely naked. She tried to cover herself while she thought of a plan.
Three boats with POLIZIA written on them sped up. A man on one of the boats was yelling through a bullhorn, but she couldn’t understand him. They pulled guns and continued to yell. Not knowing what to do, she ran. Shots rang out. It stung, but only like a mosquito bite. It was still enough to tick her off, so she turned around and stomped on the boats. The men vanished under water, but to Pesca the canals weren’t that deep. It only came halfway up her calf. How big am I?
She was able to easily step over five story Rococo buildings, and when she missed; oh well. She was hunting for green when she saw a cloud of dust in the distance. She could hear the sound of crumbling buildings and a souped up motor. Ahead of the cloud two men were racing forward on the walkways riding a Vespa with oddly placed chopper like spokes and a comically oversized motor. They looked similar to the men in the sewer, but they both had black moustaches. The fat one wore a yellow beret and the skinny one wore a purple one. They were laughing maniacally as buildings fell behind them.
They barely looked up in time to see her foot come down on them, “Oops,” She lifted her foot to see the wreckage. Machine parts, blood, broken glass, and a flattened red mushroom, “Oh great,” She found herself much bigger. Each step destroyed the ground and left a massive footprint which immediately filled with water.
As the dust cleared she saw that the destruction was caused by a giant snapping turtle. Well, he was giant to the people, but now she was able to easily pick it up. Pesca reached for it, but it snapped at her finger and she drew back. When she flinched, she accidentally swallowed. Oddly enough Auburn felt like he was the same size compared to her that he was when she first put him in her mouth. His wiggling as he slid down her esophagus was distracting, but she tried to move around the turtle to pick it up. It rotated and started jumping at her snapping and grunting.
Pesca stomped on the ground causing the turtle to lose its footing. She grabbed it and flipped it onto its back. She saw a tiny green speck attempting to hide behind a building.
“Get over here,” She demanded. He tried to duck behind a wall, “If I have to come get you I will flatten you,”
He complied. She picked him up. He was roughly the size of a ladybug to her now, “Fix this!” She gestured to her body and the giant turtle. He pulled out another jar. It was too small for her to see, but something purple floated in it. He gestured to be put down. When she set him down he did something at her feet and she began to shrink. Her stomach lurched like she was riding an elevator, but she returned to her normal size. Now she could see that the jar contained a purple mushroom. Green went to the turtle and squeezed the dropper on it shrinking it to normal size too.
He stared at her forlorn, “Perche’ you eata my brother?”
She didn’t bother to tell him that she could still feel him struggling. He had apparently shrunk with her, “Why did you do this to me?”
“We a hadda bet with our cugino on who could makea the biggest monstro,” he looked near tears, “It was nota sucha good idea,”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where I can get some clothes would you?” Green led her through some back alleys to avoid the crowd that was coming to find out what happened. They stole a dress from a hanging line, “You do realize that if I see you again you are dead, right?” Green nodded, “One more thing. You wouldn’t happen to have another one of those red mushrooms would you?”