Gluttony by Bailey Wray

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Cal Beeroth, a sickly looking man, readies himself for the day. He recalls the day before as normal, and follows the rest of his routine, none of it involving personal hygiene. After putting on his clothes, he waddles down the grandiose stairs of the estate he lives in. It belonged to his great grandmother, Ida Beeroth. Ida was a nice old lady to Cal, maybe too nice. She died fifteen years ago. But Cal doesn't like to acknowledge that. He stops on the stairs to get his breath. He continues to go down, but slowly. Cal eventually makes it to his destination; The Parlor. It is a dreary place devoid of the life it once had, not that you can even tell that it ever had life. He puts his greasy hair up, preparing to pour a drink when Cal hears KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! He, as fast as his fat body can, runs up the stairs, excited, thinking it was Ida. He is winded and opens the door to an eccentric man. The man somewhat resembling a bastardized Freddie Mercury introduces himself. He is Baron Edward Nixon. In no way related to the former president. Cal sighs, disappointed that it is not his great grandmother Ida, but instead a flamboyant young man. 
 
Though Cal is not much older than the Baron, he looks it. That could be due to many reasons, but most likely due to his alcohol use. Cal with as much breath as he can mutters “I'm not sure whatcha want, but I ain't got much ta give you.” The Baron, gives him an odd look, one much like the way a dog tilts its head. The Baron responds saying “Well, I don't need anything from you, frankly you look like you need something from me.” Cal rolls his eyes, irritated at the nature of the Baron's talk. “To be quite honest, you look like you could lose a few pounds, and i'm the right guy for that.” The Baron says. Cal, catching what the Barons up to says “Well, thank you…” not quite sure what to call The Baron “Sir, but im quiet fine with my weight. I gots to get going, my great grandmamas waitin fer me down stairs.” The Baron doesn't leave, instead he waits at the door. After a few beats he proclaims “Listen, I'm not one to judge, but I do sell weight loss pills to tubs of lard like you.” Cal, fed up with him, closes the door on the Baron. Cal sighs with relief as he waddles back downstairs to the parlor. He pours his drink as well as one for Ida. He mingles with himself pretending that it's his great grandmother. Eventually he gets tired and goes to the couch to take a nap. 
 
Cal wakes up the next day, he struggles to get up, but eventually makes it. Cal feels like a child that's been spun around by his friends, I must be hungover he thought. His intuition was correct, he was indeed hungover. He starts to think about the day prior, as normal. He walks himself through the day, remembering getting ready, going to the parlor, and… oh he thought, he very much didn't want to remember The Baron. However what​​ The Baron had said stuck out to him. He looks down at his protruding stomach disgusted. Now Cal was not an extremely obese man; but more like a tree stump, short, stocky, and had some diameter to him. Oh… Cal thought again, he looked to his right to ask Ida whether he was fat or not, “Ams I fat?” he said out loud. No response. “Am I fat!?” he repeated. He already knows the answer he was going to get.  “No, my baby boy, you aint fat, you're just a little husky” he hears her respond. To a normal person this would be a perfectly fine response. But Cal is not a normal person, in fact to any normal person he would look crazy. But Cal’s not crazy, i'm not crazy he often thinks. See, he said he's not crazy, so he mustn't be. Cal throws up, whether the vomit  was from the response or his nausea, Cal couldn't figure out. 
 
Cal continues with his day, forgetting The Baron as much as he can. But again what The Baron had said stuck with him. He walks upstairs to the drawing room of the estate, this was the nicest room of the house, although still a bit rugged. He decides there is nothing to do in that room and that he is hungry. He waddles to the kitchen to make himself something to eat. He looks in the fridge, he sees a pizza leftover from the other night. He, remembering what he was told, decides against the pizza. He looks to the right of the pizza, there lies a pre-made salad, he chooses this instead. He goes into the dining room to eat the salad. It is a good salad he thinks, “it's good isn't it” he says to Ida, in his head she nods. He suddenly feels a pain in his left chest. It feels as if a bear had torn his heart out. He sits there, accepting his end. At this moment he realizes that he cannot see Ida anymore. He screams for her “Ida? IDA? Whered you gone, this isnt funny? Ida? This isnt fu-”
 
THE END