Join the Circus                    by: Roy Del Frink

 

Louis Parker was down on his life at twenty-seven. One wouldn’t guess it from looking at his curly brown hair, six-foot frame, slightly muscular frame, or deep green eyes, however. His problems in life were more personal. He had no relatives, and few friends. After graduating from college, he realized he missed the togetherness of dorm life. He also found getting a job much harder than he imagined. After three months of fruitless job-hunting, Louis began finding places to escape his everyday problems. Local bars, coffee houses, strip joints, even the Internet. But it didn’t make him feel better. He was in a deep funk, and didn’t even know what he wanted to do for a living.

One day, Louis flipped through the local paper. The Barnum N. Bailey Circus was coming to town. He decided to follow the old cliche, and run away with them. As Louis arrived and entered the front gate, he asked the guard, "How do I join the circus? I think I might like working here."

"Then walk this way." The gentleman directed him to a large plain red trailer amidst the cages and sideline attractions. Louis entered, and found the ringmaster. Although he was dressed to start the show, the ringmaster was in no mood to enjoy it. Louis could hear him fret about his biggest sideshow act running out on him, and wondered where he could find a replacement.

"H-hello?" Louis timidly asked. The ringmaster turned towards him, and smiled.

"Hey there, sonny boy. What do you want?"

The guard told him, "This gentleman wants to work for us?"

"Really? That’s excellent news. What’s your name, kid?"

"L-l-l-l-Louis," he stuttered, nervousness filling every syllable.

"Well, Louis, Bertha’s run out on me, and I need to send someone out there to satisfy the crowds. I had to cancel tonight’s show! But I feel some integrity in you, kid. You’ll be able to fill her shoes, hee hee. Just finish our 24-hour training course, and the job’s all yours. How’s that sound?"

"Great!" He shook hands with the ringmaster then and there.

"It’s a deal! I’m Barnum N. Bailey. All you have to do is live with us, and do as we say, for the next thirty days, and we guarantee you’ll like your stay. We’ll take care of your food and clothes, and Rob here," (he gestured towards the guard) "will be your personal trainer. He helped make Bertha what she was, and he’ll do the same for you. See you tomorrow morning at 9 AM sharp. Be sure to pack up all your belongings!" The ringmaster gave Louis a pamphlet, and told him to follow the advice for preparing for life as a circus star.

Louis bade his farewell, and went back home. He spent the whole night packing up his belongings, and thinking about his new life as a circus worker. What could Bertha have been?, he asked himself. A clown? Trapeze artist? Lion tamer? Three-ringed acts filled his dreams that night. When he woke up the following day, he shoved all his bags into his beat-up Ford and returned to the greatest show on earth at 9 AM sharp.

"Hello, Louis. I see you followed all our suggestions. No relatives or pets, I see. You must lead an awfully lonely life."

"Yes, sir. If I weren’t so lonely, I probably wouldn’t be here right now."

"That comes to an end today. From now on, your fellow circus co-workers are your family. From me, the ringmaster, to the saddest clown and the smallest thin man, everybody in the Barnum N. Bailey circus is your brother, sister, mother, father, and best friend. You’ll be paid in room and board - I’m afraid we can’t pay cash - and report to work tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM. You can spend today unpacking your things into Bertha’s old trailer. Rob will show you the way. Good luck, Louis." The ringmaster shook his hand, and Louis found Bertha’s (now his) trailer. The front showed a half-finished painting of Bertha. She was a big old woman, obviously the circus fat lady. A giant poster proclaimed "BERTHA - THE WORLD’S FATTEST ------- LADY" (one word was too smudged to read), and the painted face went no lower down than her nose. Clearly, she looked happy. But Louis wasn’t sure he wanted to be a fat lady.

"Rob, I can’t be a fat lady! Can you talk some sense into Mr. Bailey?"

"Louis, I’m sorry, but when Mr. Bailey gets his mind fixed on something, he can’t be talked out of it. And besides, you might enjoy it. It’ll be fun! Here, put this on, and don’t forget to remove your clothes first.." Rob handed Louis an inflated body suit that resembled an 800-pound woman. "You can use Bertha’s trailer, and we’ve got new clothes for you inside. That suit takes dang near forever to blow up, so meet me at the mess hall for lunch." And he walked away, leaving Louis to wonder what would happen next.

Louis almost laughed when he saw it, but he decided to try it anyway. He spent the next three hours blowing it up - boy, was that suit hard to fill! As soon as he finished, he examined it. The suit looked 100 percent anatomically correct, all the way down to the short leg hairs and the folds of her vaginal lips. After wanting to personally congratulate whoever got those details better than on any inflatable doll he’d ever seen, Louis got into the suit. Since it was large, his fairly skinny frame could just squeeze through the hole just below the neck. When he finished, Louis was startled to watch his neck inflate like a balloon. It gradually squeezed out, further and further, until it was twice as thick as his whole head. After that was done, Louis felt his own head expand outward. He figured this was good, because he didn’t wanna be a thick-necked freak for the rest of his life. In fact, after the throbbing of his head expanding went away, he stared in the mirror at the foot of his bed and noticed his head was now perfectly proportioned for his neck. But his body... It was that of a very fat woman. "I’m now the world’s fattest lady, all right," Louis thought to himself. "But at least my face isn’t female - oh, crap!" His thought was interrupted as he noticed his face was indeed quite feminine. Although he now appeared to have a sextuple chin, and the fat on his head probably weighed more than all of Calista Flockheart, Louis’s face still seemed to have a sort of overweight feminine feel to it. His eyes were shaped like oversized almonds, and his lashes were too long for any man, even one as gastronomically challenged as his new form. His lips were big and pouty, and his thick neck had no signs of an adam’s apple anywhere. Louis turned around, and found an oversized dress and flats that fit his oversized frame. He also discovered a huge bra and panties to wear underneath. He slipped into it, but not without a lot of trouble. After adjusting to his new appearance, Louis left the trailer and set out for the mess hall.

The first thing Louis noticed when he started moving around was that he felt like he, in fact, weighed 800 pounds. His arms and legs felt thicker than tree trunks, and he could feel his two yards of blubber shaking around his waist. Thankfully, he seemed strong enough to walk around without any trouble. Since Louis didn’t know where the mess hall was, he realized he’d have to ask someone for directions. He saw a clown passing by, and asked him, "Which way to the mess hall? I have to go there." As soon as he heard it, Louis was startled at the very feminine (and thick!) voice emerging from his lips.

"Oh, hello. What’s your name, ma’am?" the clown replied.

Louis thought a bit and replied, "Louise."

"Pleased to meet you, Louise." He reached out and shook one of Louise’s oversized hands. "My name’s Giggles. You must be Bertha’s replacement."

"Yea, I am," Louise replied.

"Well, then, you must be starving! I’ll show you the way to the mess hall personally." Giggles led Louise around, not even attempting to pull her massive bulk, but just pointing out the path to follow. The pair arrived at the mess hall about ten minutes later. Louise saw a rather large chair labeled, "Reserved". Since it was the only seat at the place that could possibly hold her, she figured that must be for her. She got a large helping of food, then sat down in her super-large chair. As soon as Louise started to eat, she noticed Rob take his seat next to her, at a normal-sized chair at the same table.

"Hello, um, I don’t think Louis is appropriate for you anymore! What do you want to call yourself?"

"I’ve decided on Louise," she replied. "And Giggles the Clown showed me the way here."

"Excellent. You’re filling in quite nicely. Not to mention filling up." Rob couldn’t help but chuckle at that joke of his. "Seriously, that new body of yours is going to need over fifty pounds a day to keep its weight up. So you’d better start pigging out, and don’t forget to eat frequent snacks between meals."

"Thanks, Rob. Now tell me, what happened when I - as Louis - put on that giant inflated suit?"

"Oh, you became you. It’s a magic suit, designed by our circus magician, Mysterio. When you put it on, it became your new body. Now you can feel every sensation on it. Allow me to demonstrate." Rob removed Louise’s shoes, then started tickling her feet. Louise was so ticklish, she couldn’t stop laughing. After a couple minutes of that, Rob stopped and put her shoes back on. Louise still took another couple minutes to catch her breath.

"Wow! Does this suit change my insides, too?"

"You bet. You can get pregnant if you don’t watch out, so be careful. And at your size, maybe being pregnant would be a bad thing. I’d hate to imagine you at eight months, or raising a hundred-pound baby!"

"Good point."

"And while I’m thinking of it, I’ll tell you one of the female acrobats will teach you about periods and feminine beauty tips."

"Thanks. But I’d like to know; why did Mr. Bailey want a man to become his fat lady?"

"Ah, you never met Bertha! Come back to your trailer after tonight’s performance, and you’ll find out. In the meantime, I think Giggles should help you learn your act. I’ll go get him. You finish your meal."

Louise finished her food while waiting for Rob to return with Giggles. In the meantime, she realized that she was, indeed, hungry. Much hungrier than she’d ever been as Louis. Even as a teenager, Louis had never been able to eat as much as Louise took for her first serving - and she found herself going for seconds, thirds, and fourths! As soon as Louise finally felt filled to the gills, Rob returned with Giggles. "Hi, Louise," Giggles said.

"Oh, hello. I’m so glad you finally came. I was worried I’d have nothing to do after I finished eating. So what’ll I do for the show?"

"Don’t worry. We’ll have all afternoon to rehearse our act." Then he whisked Louise off to a rehearsal tent.

That evening, Louise could hear Mr. Bailey barking out, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the greatest show on earth! Tonight, we have for you the world’s fattest fat lady. May I now present - LOUISE!" The curtain raised, and everyone saw Louise sitting in a chair rocking back and forth. They could only stare at her as her body fat flailed wildly at her surroundings. A couple of the breast-men wondered what size bra could hold those monstrous melons. And two guys wagered on wether or not the rocking chair would give out under her weight. Louise just sat there, rocking back and forth, as the crowd enjoyed her. Then the show started. Louise’s biggest highlight came during the clowns’ routine. Giggles, trying to sit down to enjoy the other clown doing their act, looked for a comfortable seat. Eventually he chose Louise, who got up and threw him into a cannon. Giggles was shot a hundred yards before he knew what was happening. (Fortunately, since Giggles had once been a human cannonball, he could handle the act.) When folks laughed at Giggles’ antics, Louise felt like she was the real star of the show. She took a bow, and the crowd applauded her. That moment, Louise felt better than Louis had ever been.

After the show was over, Louise decided to head back towards her trailer. She’d simply have to talk over ladies’ things with that acrobat. And maybe she could start scratching her face, which had itched all day. But when she reached the door, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her likeness was painted in front - and she had a beard! Stranger, she could see a brand-new poster, which read "LOUISE - THE WORLD’S FATTEST BEARDED WOMAN". Startled, she opened the door and found the acrobat inside. "Hello, miss. Would you mid telling me what’s going on?"

"Not at all, Louise," she replied. "My name is Amy, and I should tell you you’re not just a fat lady, you’re a fat bearded lady. That’s why Mr. Bailey wanted a man inside the magic fat lady costume. You must not have realized that the magic of the suit allows you to keep growing facial hair as you did when you were Louis. Mr. Bailey does this to save slightly on costs. Why get a fat lady and a separate bearded lady when you can have two in one?"

"Okay, that explains a lot. Thanks, Amy."

"You’re welcome. Now let me tell you about maxi-pads." The two of them discussed feminine grooming for about an hour, until Louise was pooped. She got into her bed (which was appropriately two queen-sized beds sewn together) and fell asleep.

The following day, Louise began to get into her new routine. She’d spend most of the morning grooming, washing, showering, trimming her beard, eating breakfast, and the like before leaving her trailer and talking to her fellow co-workers and friends. After a huge lunch, Louise would practice for the big show. After dinner, when the tent opened, she rock and use one of her jumbo hands to ruffle her heart-shaped beard (which she always dyed pink, to appear more feminine). Then more fun with the clowns, and bedtime. Eventually, Louise got used to the circus life. She loved it. And she looked forward to being the world’s fattest bearded lady for the rest of her life.

THE END

© 2000
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