"Lovely weather for a walk today, isn't it?" Carol said conversationally as she led the way down the street, "Not too hot or too cold, just enough clouds for shade but not so many that you worry about the rain, and a light breeze to help wick away the workout sweat."
"What do you do if it is raining and you have to walk somewhere?" Jennifer asked.
"Well in the cities they put up awnings over the streets," Carol explained, "like a big ol bunch of umbrellas. Here in the suburbs or in more rural towns though it's advised you pack an umbrella of your own for the rain. When it snows, you bundle up real good so you don't get cold."
"Don't they have like, trucks to shovel the snow?" Jennifer asked.
"If it's been snowing overnight," Carol shrugged, "Trudging through so much snow can be a pain."
"What do you do if you have to go to another city?" Jennifer continued.
"Oh, that's simple," Carol chuckled, "You take a train or rent a travel truck. Trains and trucks are pretty nice though, all air conditioned and you don't have to burn off all your weight and get sweaty... not that you need anything like that while we're in town. All of the streets aren't big enough for everyone to drive around in trucks all the time. Why all the strange questions, honey gravy? Shouldn't you know all this?"
"Uhh, maybe, but," Jenny stammered, "I just thought, like, if everyone likes being fat, why does everyone walk everywhere?"
Carol laughed. "Oh sweetie, everyone walks because they like being fat! That sounded a bit circular I know, but considering how large the average person is, everyone driving around in trucks wouldn't be practical. There's just not enough room in the cities. Not to mention the emissions! My butt makes enough emissions all by itself! Imagine how bad it'd be if the world constantly smelled like burning diesel. I am hearing about these new electric trucks though? All the engineers on the news say they're expected to completely replace diesel engines in the next couple decades, but their biggest hurdle right now is probably battery life. Oh they can haul four or five people at a time no problem, that's just, what, five or six tons? The diesel powered trucks today can handle seven or eight tons no problem and only need to refuel every few hundred miles or so. It's just that the battery runs out so quick hauling that much weight on the electric ones that they're not practical for wide release yet. They're also experimenting with fart powered engines too? Those are showing lots of promise and what's exciting about those is the fact they can haul as much as a diesel truck can, and they can make use of a very renewable resource! Oh but there I go rambling about engineering like I'm at the office, sorry about that, honey."
"No! No, it's fine," Jennifer assured her mother, "It's totally fine, actually it's kind of enlightening. Uhh... how do people go to other countries?"
"Hmm," Carol rubbed her chin, "Well most people take huge boats if they're just on vacation, but if you need to travel for work or if you're just rich or in a hurry you can take a plane." So boats and airplanes do still exist in this world, Jennifer thought, they just gotta be really huge boats or really powerful airplanes to be able to lift these fatasses without sinking like rocks. Of course Mom would know this stuff though. She's an accountant for an engineering company, even in this stupid world.
"Tell you another reason why everyone walks everywhere even though everyone's fat?" Carol asked as they waddled towards a fast food place at the end of the block, "It makes it way easier to stop for snacks on the way to your destination." Jennifer looked the restaurant up and down as they approached it. It looked a bit more like a stall with a counter at the front open to the street with an adjoining outdoor dining area that had like three or four tables sized for these elephantine people. There were already one or two other globes of meat in line at one of the registers, and a few people sat down munching on piles of burgers and fries at their tables. It was then Jennifer realized something.
She was still naked from suddenly gaining so much weight! In fact the entire time she and her mother were walking from their house to the mall to go clothes shopping, Jennifer was completely naked apart from her shoes and a pair of socks. Granted, none of her clothes in her closet would fit anymore, and she still wasn't big enough to borrow her mom's clothes, but it was still embarrassing. Jenny started trying to cover herself, but with how fat she'd suddenly gotten (nowhere near the massive ham planets everyone else was, but still) she found it a little hard to contain everything. The only reason she wasn't covering herself until now was because she was preoccupied with figuring out some things about how this new world operated.
"Oh Jenny dear," Carol rubbed her daughter's shoulder with a flabby paw that was bigger than her own head, "there's no need to be so embarrassed. Lots of people tear up their clothes from outgrowing them. Like just over there, look." Carol pointed at one of the people sat down to eat, a guy who had to weigh at least a ton and a half. As he was stuffing his face, a massive rip formed in the back of his jeans loud enough to be heard from the counter. The guy looked at his pants, gave an annoyed grunt, and just went back to eating. It was like he didn't even care that anyone could see his sweat stained underwear.
"Don't much approve of the state of his underpants though," Carol stroked her chin, "It's a good thing my husband takes good care of his underpants. Anyway, we're almost at the register. Did you want something to munch on, dear?"
"No, I'm not-" Jennifer was about to decline when her stomach suddenly let out a small grumble, "Actually, I guess a little snack couldn't hurt... just a little one though. Like, maybe just a chicken wrap or something. No soda either, just water."
"That's fair," Carol nodded, "Soda's more of a sit down drink anyway, and we're gonna be walking after we order. Probably should have brought some water jugs with us in hindsight. Gotta stay hydrated!"
"Yeah, especially since you're so big," Jenny rolled her eyes, resting her hands behind her head. Carol laughed a bit at that remark.
"Oh Jenny, you're such a card," she chuckled. The girls got to the register, Jennifer having to stand on a step stool to see over the counter since it was made for nine-to-ten foot tall goliaths. The cashier was a girl in about her twenties if Jenny had to guess. It was hard for her to tell exactly how old since she was so obese, just like everyone else around her. Her black hair was pulled into a pair of buns that poked out of the top of her fast food uniform's visor, and the uniform itself was stretched almost skintight over her almost nine foot wide pear shaped frame. Jenny briefly wondered if minimum wage workers like her were more respected in this world than in her old one, since she seemed like she was grinning ear to ear with sincerity rather than in a "customer service" kind of way.
"Hi-yee!" the cashier waved, "Welcome to McWaddles. My name is Kimmy, may I take your order?"
"Yes, uh," Carol looked at the menu, "Can I get quadruple pounder with bacon and extra lettuce and tomato, but as a wrap instead of a burger?"
"Can I guess you want this order to go?" Kimmy asked.
"Exactly," Carol confirmed, "I'm just on my way to the mall to do a little clothes shopping for my sweet little sugar dumpling here." She pinched Jennifer's cheek like she was still five years old. She was eighteen, dang it! So embarrassing. "She just recently started putting on weight, finally, and nothing fits her anymore. You have no idea how happy this makes me!"
"Oh my god," Kimmy gasped, "That's little Jenny? Holy cow, I almost didn't recognize you looking like you're not a sickly little stick! Hey there, Jenny! Awesome to see you're looking nourished now." Jenny blushed way harder at the cashier's praise. "Oop! Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you, girl. Uh, did you want anything?"
"Chicken caesar wrap," Jenny muttered, still a little embarrassed, "go light on the mayonnaise please?"
"Okay," Kimmy nodded, "That's a bacon quadruple pounder wrap with extra lettuce and tomato, and a chicken caesar wrap with light mayo. Would you ladies like fries with that?"
"Ooh, yes please!" Carol clasped her hands, "Extra crispy if you can!"
"None for me, thanks," Jenny shook her head.
"Well, no need to rush dear," Carol reassured her daughter, "I'd hate for you to think I'm forcing you to bulk up."
"One... order... of fries," Kimmy punched into the register, "And anything to drink?"
"Just waters are fine," Carol waved, "We are still walking, after all."
"Alrighty," Kimmy nodded, "Those should be out in just a minute. I'll call your names when they're ready."
"Thank you kindly," Carol nodded, "Come on, Jenny. Let's sit down for a bit while they make our food."
"Wait, what?" Jenny whipped her head from her mother to the cashier in shock, "Just like that? For free? Don't we gotta, you know, pay?"
"FOR FOOD?" Carol and Kimmy gasped at Jenny in disbelief.
"Uhh..." Jennifer blinked, "You... you don't gotta pay for food?"
"Of course not!" Carol confirmed, "For something as necessary as food, especially every few minutes! Why would anyone pay for something as basic as food?! It's not like we're going to one of those fancy high class French or Italian restaurants you gotta make a reservation for. This is just a McWaddles! Are you nuts? Jennifer, you're eighteen years old, how could you forget something as basic as this?"
"So wait," Jennifer glanced around, "No one has to pay for food. Not even for grocery shopping?"
"Of course not," Carol assured her daughter, "There's more than enough food at the grocery store. No one needs to pay for food from the grocery store. Are you sure you're okay, dear. Maybe you should order more than just one wrap, dear, I think this malnutrition is making you have a little bit of memory loss."
"Mom, I'm fine," Jenny insisted, "I promise! I... I promise. I'm fine." Her stomach growled again, this time a little bit louder. "Maybe I could do with another wrap."
"Hey, no trouble Jen," Kimmy assured, "I can totally get you another wrap. Did you want it to also be a chicken caesar with light mayo?"
"Wait though," Jenny glanced at Kimmy, "If food is free, how do you get paid?"
"Oh, we're funded by the government," Kimmy waved the question off, "Starting wage here is like $20 an hour, it's great! The food at those fancy shmancy restaurants is free, too, but they charge you through the nose on reservations. That's how those places stay so exclusive."
"I... I see," Jenny nodded. Jesus, no wonder everyone on Earth is obese, she thought, All the food is as abundant as freaking water!
"By the way, your food's ready," Kimmy said, gesturing towards the pickup counter, "Thanks for stopping by McWaddles, we hope to see you again real soon."
"And thank you for such fast service," Carol nodded as she grabbed her greasy burger wrap and fries. Jenny took her considerably less greasy chicken wraps and followed her mother as they continued down the street, eating along the way. Carol's wrap was about as big as a two liter soda bottle, if not a little bigger. Jenny's wraps were more about the size of 16 ounce energy drink cans. She still marveled at how people could handle eating so much. They'd been given their waters in large disposable plastic cups with straws, and their food with handled paper bags to make carrying while walking easier. Carol was eating her wrap a bit more carefully than when she was eating the pancakes earlier that morning, but her cheeks were still smeared with ketchup and mustard stains.
"Jenny, could you be a dear and pass me a napkin?" Carol asked as she fished her fries out of her bag, "I can't go into the mall with my snack all over my face." As if to punctuate her sentence with irony, her butt blasted out a rancid beefy fart.
"Uhh... sure, Mom," Jennifer said as she passed a napkin to her mother, "Hey, sorry to ask this while we're, y'know, eating... but this question just popped into my head and it's kinda bugging me."
"Oh it's no problem," Carol said as she wiped her face clean of condiments, "Why? What's your question?"
"Since everyone farts every few minutes," Jenny asked, "has anyone ever had any sort of... accident? Like, has anyone ever crapped themselves in the middle of a fart?"
"Ohhhh," Carol said, a bit flushed, "That's uh... that's a good question. Um... Usually you're able to feel when you need to poop and you can hold it easily, but uh... sometimes you can get a little careless and end up sharting yourself. Don't worry though. Most people are continent enough to hold it until they can go to the bathroom, but it can happen sometimes. Especially if you're like, drunk or something. Don't worry if you have a little accident in public, though. No one's gonna bat an eye if you have to walk around bottomless."
"If you're sure," Jenny blushed at that answer, looking a bit away from her mother. This world is maybe a little too much for me, she thought, I really feel out of place now! When I find that Kyle... does Kyle even exist in this world anymore? Can I get out of this curse if he doesn't? What do I do? Can I even use Transform or Dare in this world? Is Transform or Dare like, one of those mulit-universal constants that exists in every Glendale, California? Like those canon event things that Spider-Man movie talked about? Guess I'll have to find out for myself later, huh? One thing at a time, Jennifer Smith. Right now you gotta focus on getting some new clothes that are gonna fit while you're turning into a fucking fatass. Everything's gonna be okay in due time. Let's just play this by ear until we can figure out what to do next.