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[Suzie Ate Cotton Balls]

         Suzie ate cotton balls soaked in substances to keep her belly feeling full. Some soaked slimy in orange juice to make them slide down the esophagus better. The tang she tasted tickled her throat and made her belly bubble. Answering Ana with a sour soliloquy, and meandering around Mia best she could. Both ladies latched themselves onto sweet Suzie’s writhing wrists and never let go. They giggled like schoolgirls, each a devil on Suzie’s shoulder and whispered:

         “Come fray with us Suzie.” Like sisters from The Shining

          Suzie ran in place like she was on a treadmill, treading the best she could. But  Ana had a tight grip on her t-shirt and wouldn’t let go. 

          At school, aromatic Ambrosia hit Suzie hard. 

         “Look out,” Mia muttered. “I see fed people.” 

          Ana annihilated Suzie’s senses. 

          Suzie washed down water cold as ice, settling her unsettled stomach moaning for a meal. Eyes ecstatic, bulging like her bloated belly, the two femme fatales onlooked in disgruntled disgust. 

         “What’s the matter Suzie?” Ana hissed. “Looks like you’ve seen some toast.” 

         “Sometimes,” Suzie said,” bread is better.” 

         “But then you’ll have to throw it up later,” Mia said. 

          Suzie solemnly left the lunchroom, wandering mindlessly until she reached a vending machine. Sifting through singles she bought five bags of chips, sucking cheatle from her thumb like an infant. Brooding, she binged on burgers and brownies as Ana and Mia watched, distraught. Their wondrous work cracked before them. 

         “You’re gonna need a bigger throat,” Mia said when Suzie finally finished her meals. 

          Once home she ran right to the bathroom and threw open the toilet bowl. 

          Suzie gripped her quivering belly, beaten up by emesis. For once, Ana and Mia refused to hold her hand. No ounce of sympathy for Suzie could be found in Ana’s dead, dull eyes. Suzie sobbed and pleaded to angry Ana; she didn’t want to disappoint her.

          “Do you want to place the blame?” Ana asked. 

          “It’s my fault,” Suzie said, sniffling. 

          Ana walked out of the bathroom, leaving Suzie to face feeble Mia. 

         “Whatever you do,” Mia whispered, “don’t bawl or eat.” 

          Suzie was left lonely. 

 

          Suzie’s family took her to the hospital after she slipped in the bathroom. Many things were found Mia couldn’t cover up. Ana’s absence hurt Suzie more than the tears tearing through her mother’s eyes. Upon Suzie’s discharge, she felt sweeter. Her mother managed to contain Suzie’s caustic condition.

          Until Ana and Mia found her again. 

          So Suzie binged again on grease and gristle, heating her hatred for herself. Luckily, Ana absorbed it and Mia manipulated it. Pinching her pooch, Suzie stood silent in the bathroom mirror. Her bones, brittle, broke the surface, ribs resting along her torso. 

          Mia held her hair; Ana watched. 

          She thrusts her fingers down her throat and still insists she eats the most. 

          Leaning lazily on the wall, Suzie’s eyes began to close. She twitched at Ana’s touch. She and Mia kissed Suzie’s soft cheeks.  

          “It snubs the motion of its kin,” Mia began

          “And falls down the hole again.” Ana finished, the twinge of a grin glistening on her face.

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      Piper White

Piper White is a lover of fiction, horror and Stephen King. Although fiction is her niche, she loves to dabble in poetry in her free time. She may be named after a witch, but she promises not to hex you.

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