NEW WOMAN 
BY Mark (Marknew742@aol.com)
A little pill makes a New Women.  The second version of this series.


"So, what are we going to do with this thing? Are going to just sit 
back and pat ourselves on that back, or are we going to use it, like we 
said?" 
 
"Ellen! We haven't really tested it on people. And there's the legal 
stuff. I mean, we've made some new drugs here. I don't know what we're 
supposed to do. I haven't talked to any lawyers, have you? And what 
about the larger implications? Have we all thought through what this 
will mean to people? To the whole organization of society? It's pretty 
profound." 
 
"Oh Beth. Don't bore us with that crap. I know why I got involved in 
this project. It's because I was tired of getting pushed around. 
There's no higher ethical issue here. No one did an environmental 
impact statement on testosterone before they gave it to men, and look 
where it's gotten us. And if some government type wants to tell me it's 
illegal to give us the power to defend itself, then I say let's deal 
with that problem when it comes up." 
 
All the women nodded around the table in agreement with Erica. Out of 
the six, only Beth wanted to continue the discussion. 
 
"You're all making a big mistake. This is a spectacular advance in 
science we've made. We've learned so much about the human body, about 
biochemistry. We can extend this now to the other fields represented 
here. Sociology, phychology, business, politics. We all have a role to 
play. We're not just servants to someone's political agenda." Beth 
looked pointedly at Erica. "Just who appointed you the director of this 
project anyway. I thought we were all going to have a voice." 
 
"Look at our agreement, Beth. We do all have a voice. But I put up the 
money, and I have a bigger voice. Besides, even if we did decide this 
democratically, I think I would have the votes to continue with my plan. 
What do you say, ladies?" 
 
"Yes." 
 
"Let's get on with it." 
 
"See what happens. Erica's right." 
 
"You see Beth. You're outvoted. And I have another surprise for you. 
Your contract has just been terminated. In five minutes, if you don't 
get out of here, you'll be a trespasser on these premises. So I suggest 
you get in your car, and go." 
 
"You can't do this. What gives you the right?" 
 
"If you have a problem, talk to your lawyer, but be sure to bring your 
contract, and our partnership agreement, not to mention a little 
resolution we passed earlier this evening, adopted by owners of more 
than 75% of the equity in our venture. Your check for your share will 
be mailed to you in thirty days, as per our agreement. Oh, don't 
bother to pack up your office. Your papers belong to us, The New Woman 
Corporation. And be sure to read section 7. It describes your 
obligation to keep all matters you learned about us secret, forever. 
I'm sure you don't want us to have to sue you and take away your trust 
fund, as well as any other income you earn for life. There is a rather 
large liquidated damages clause, I recall." 
 
"I can't believe this. And you all voted against me?" 
 
Ellen smiled brightly and looked Beth directly in the eyes. Laura 
looked away, but didn't say anything. The others remained 
expressionless. 
 
"OK. I get the message. Sure, I'll go. I'll talk to a lawyer too. " 
She looked again at the group. "You all must be very sure of what your 
doing. I wish I were." 
 
Beth rose and walked out the door. As she started her car, Ellen stood 
up and walked to the window. She watched the rear lights fade away 
through the trees. 
 
Erica spoke. "OK. Now, before we proceed, does anyone else have any 
issues to raise? We have to be in perfect agreement about our course 
of action , because once we start, there's no turning back. Right?" 
 
The women spoke as one. "Right!" 
 
"Now, we have a number of compounds we've developed, some stronger than 
others. Five of them work on women, one on men. Which one should we 
try first?" 
 
Molly spoke up. "I think we should try all of them. Each should be 
responsible for one of them, except, with Beth gone, one of us will 
have to take two. We all know people who will benefit from them. 
Let's put our best cases on the table and decide, right now. It will 
only take a few weeks to see how they work. Then we go to phase two." 
 
"I agree," said Erica. "This way, by the summer, we'll be well on our 
way to our goal. Any comments? Questions?" 
 
"I'm not so sure about Big Bertha," said Laura. "That's our newest 
compound. We really don't know much about it." 
 
"Fine. Leave that one to me. The rest of you, let's hear your plans. 
Ellen?" 
 
"You all know how I feel. I want to get this out in the public as soon 
as possible. But until you all agree, I want to focus on young people. 
First, it should work especially quickly with them, but more 
importantly, this is when attitudes are being formed. I want to see how 
quickly we can change the way girls have to play up to boys. I know a 
group of girls who are sure to say yes . They'll be perfect." 
 
"Good! I'm sold. Any objections?" No one said anything. "Molly?" 
 
"I have kind of a funny idea I've been thinking about. I would have 
mentioned it before, but I know Beth would have objected. What if we 
give it to someone in a prominent position, without telling them? 
 
"But what about informed consent? Isn't that wrong?" 
 
"I know it sounds bad Laura, but I would use our mild one, the one 
we've tested the most. And I know just the person. I'm sure she would 
say yes. But it will be more effective a test if she doesn't know 
she's getting it. What do you think?" 
 
"I like the idea. But you have to be sure about this. Who are you 
thinking of?" 
 
"My sister." 
 
Erica and Ellen laughed. "That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of 
that?" Any objections? Laura?" 
 
"Well, if it's Molly's sister, I guess not. It seems a little funny to 
me, but " 
 
"Laura, it's a well-established rule of experimentation that you have 
to avoid the placebo effect. This is a great way to test the compound 
without any fear of distorting the results." 
 
"OK." 
 
"Good. Sally?" 
 
"I know a perfect team to take the drugs together. I know I can get 
the wife to agree. But what man would take his pill willingly?" 
 
"Obviously no one would, so the informed consent rule doesn't apply. 
Thisis a matter of justice. Tell me about them. 
 
"Oh, they live next door. He's a football player. They've been 
married three years. You never see her. I hear all sorts of awful 
things coming from their house, at all hours. He must beat her up at 
least twice a week." 
 
"Sounds perfect. Will she go along with it?" 
 
"I think so. I talk to her every now and then. She's afraid to talk 
to most people, but because we're neighbors she feels safe talking to 
me over the fence, especially when he's out of town." 
 
"Great. We'll leave the details to you. Laura?" 
 
"I want to take it myself." 
 
"Yourself? Why? That goes against one of our rules. We don't want to 
do anything to draw attention to ourselves." 
 
"I know. I've thought a lot about it. I think I can make a good cover 
by working out a lot. I'd rather try it on myself than anyone else. 
And if you think it's dangerous, well, I can resign from the group. 
You guys know I'm not really as much into the project as all of you." 
 
"I don't see why Laura can't do it. But I agree that she should resign 
. It's a conflict of interest for her to take the pill and help run the 
program." 
 
Erica nodded. "Any objections? Good. Laura, you'll have to turn in 
all of your cards. Why don't you work with Ellen on getting your pills. 
I'm sorry you're doing it this way. We all like working with you, but 
it's probably for the best. Remember, that confidentiality clause 
applies to you too." 
 
"Oh, you don't have to worry about me. I hardly understand what you're 
doing anyway, and you don't need me anymore. Now that you're off the 
ground, I'm sure you can find another place to keep your things." She 
got up and left. 
 
"Well, we're really down to the hard core, ladies. We couldn't have 
planned it better." 
 Fran and Greg 
 
"Mind if I come over to chat, Fran?" 
 
Great. What does she want? Look at me, beat up again, and now my 
snooty neighbor wants to talk. What do I have to say to her anyway? 
She probably thinks I'm a total dodo for being a housewife, not to 
mention having a football player for a husband. But I can't say no. 
 
"No, that would be great. Greg's at practice all day." 
 
Sally noticed Fran's faded black eye and saw her walk with a slight 
limp toward her side of the yard. She was about five and a half feet 
tall, but was very slender, weighing only 110 pounds. "Hey Fran, are 
you alright? You don't look so good." 
 
I knew she would notice. Why doesn't she mind her own business! I 
should have stayed inside. 
 
"Oh, I'm fine. I feel pretty good today. The team won last week. 
Oh,I know you don't follow these things, but Greg had a great game. He 
got the other quarterback three times." 
 
"I remember hearing something about that. He knocked him out of the 
game didn't he?" 
 
"It's worse than that. He got a concussion. They don't know if he's 
coming back. Poor Greg. He feels sort of bad. Sometimes he doesn't 
know his own strength." 
 
Actually, I know he knows exactly what he's doing. 
 
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that Fran. Can I be frank 
with you for a few minutes. Look everyone on the block knows what Greg 
does to you. Don't say anything. Let me finish. This is just between 
you and me, ok? I don't want to tell you to leave your husband. I 
know how important your marriage is. And I'm not a lawyer and I don't 
want to tell you to call the police or get a protection order or 
anything. I thought you might be interested in something that will make 
Greg stop hurting you. That's all. Can I tell you about it? 
 
Great! What does she know about any of this? Living alone, having her 
own career. I can feel some kind of feminism lecture coming. Or is 
she going to tell me to take karate lessons? 
 
"Well, I don't know. What do you know anyway?" 
 
"Come on Fran. Anyone can see your black eye, your limp. You don't 
get that sort of thing in household accidents, not every week. 
Besides, I can hear you two fighting. At least I hear him yelling at 
you. I don't hear you much." 
 
"Well, I can't say anything. It just makes him angrier at me than 
before." 
 
"Do you know why he hits you?" 
 
"He says I do things to annoy him, that I don't listen. I try, but I 
can't seem to do anything right, sometimes. He thinks the only way to 
teach me is to hit me." 
 
This is so embarrassing, saying these obvious lies. But I'll be damned 
if I let her know how miserable I am. Why am I letting her talk to me 
about this? 
 
"Do you think that's right?" 
 
"No. Of course not. But he's really good in other ways. He's been 
good to my family too. I don't want to do anything to hurt our 
marriage. I know he's go off the wall if I called a lawyer, or if he 
even knew I was talking to you about this." She looked around. 
 
"He'll never find out from me Fran. Listen. I work with a group that 
has studied this problem, and one thing we believe is that men hit 
their wives for one basic reason. Because they can get away with it. 
And we've come up with a simple, direct solution. Are you interested?" 
 
"What kind of solution?" 
 
"If you're interested, I'll tell you. But because we're at such an 
early stage you have to promise first that you won't tell anyone 
anything at all about it." 
 
"Well, sure. OK. You can trust me." 
 
I can't wait to hear what kind of wacky thing these women have come up 
with. 
 
"As I said, the only reason he hits you is because he can get away with 
it. First, because he doesn't think you'll go to anyone for help. And 
second, because you can't defend yourself." 
 
"That's pretty obvious. I told you I don't want to call a lawyer or 
anything. And how could I defend myself against him? He weighs over 
three hundred pounds, and I probably don't have an ounce of muscle on 
me. He knows he can do what he wants. So what are you going to do, 
give me a gun? Tell me to attack him in his sleep?" 
 
"No. I don't want you hurt him or threaten him. As I said, the 
solution is very simple. I'm going to help you be stronger than Greg." 
 
This is a new one. She's surprised me here. 
 
"Ha! That's the funniest thing I ever heard! Greg's one of the 
strongest men in pro football. And I've never been good in sports. I 
can't even throw a ball. I've always been the family weakling. Look at 
these arms. I even have trouble carrying grocery bags. I can't even use 
the large size of detergent. Greg has to pour them into smaller bottles 
for me. You really make me laugh Sally." 
 
"You don't have to believe me Fran. Just take this pill once a day. 
All I ask is that you come over to my house a couple to times a week so 
I can do some tests to make sure everything is alright. And I have one 
other thing, a pill for Greg to help even up the score." 
 
"Oh right. And what will that do? Make him as weak as me?" 
 
"Yes, it will, but only for a day or two. Your pills though are 
permanent. They don't wear off." 
 
Sounds pretty easy. Even I can take a pill. I'm sure she wouldn't try 
to poison me. 
 
"You're really serious, aren't you? Are you sure they're safe?" 
 
"I know they are. We've tested them. But it's up to you Fran. 
Remember, I'm not offering you this so you'll hurt Greg. It's just to 
stop him from hurting you." 
 
Now don't get excited or anything. I mean, there's no way something 
like this is real. Still, it would be fun. Imagine the look on his 
face! 
 
"I don't know. I'm starting to believe you. At least I think I can 
tell that you're not kidding me. I mean, you really think this will 
work?" 
 
"I do. Will you try it?" 
 
"Well, tell me. Have you tried it first?" 
 
"My group decided that none of us should take it at this time. It's to 
prevent conflicts and it's just good science. But we have tesed it." 
 
Oh, I get it. I'm a guinea pig. Well, I don't care. What do I have 
to lose? 
 
"Oh. I guess I understand. But, will it make me look different? 
 
"Yes it will. I can't tell you exactly how, but it will give you 
bigger muscles and make them well-toned. It works a lot like male 
hormones, only better. And don't worry, you won't lose your breasts or 
your hips, and you'll still be able to have kids. I'm not giving you 
steroids or male hormones. You'll be as much a woman afterwards as 
before." 
 
Fat lot of good that does me now. 
 
"Gee. I hadn't thought of that. Are you sure it won't make me hairy?" 
 
"Absolutely. It works with your female hormones. In fact, it won't 
work at all on women who have gone through menopause, or on girls who 
haven't matured. It just makes your muscle tissue react differently to 
your natural hormones." 
 
I don't know what she's talking about, but who cares. Why look a gift 
horse in the mouth? 
 
"It sounds really interesting. OK. I'll do it. When do I start?" 
 
"Right now. If you can take a few minutes to come over and let me run 
a couple of tests, I'll give you your first supply." 
 
Sally and Fran went to Sally's study. "Fran, you weren't kidding when 
you said you have no muscle. I don't think I've ever seen an arm so 
skinny. Do you eat enough?" 
 
"I've been on a diet, lately. Greg thought I was getting fat." 
 
"Fran, you're not fat. You're emaciated. I have to tell you. These 
pills will give you an appetite. Please, for once, indulge yourself 
while you're on them. You can have as many milkshakes as you want. 
None of it will turn to fat, I promise you." 
 
I like this already, but it better work. If I do get fat, Greg'll 
never stick around. 
 
"Gosh. The way you talk is making me think it will work. So how often 
do I take them?" 
 
"For now, just one a day. It would be safe to take more, but let's 
take it slow at first, OK?" 
 
"Right." 
 
"And remember, don't tell anyone, not even your doctor." 
 
Are you kidding? Who would I tell? Anyone would tell me I'm crazy. 
 
"But shouldn't I tell him if I'm on medication?" 
 
"It isn't a drug, or a hormone. It's as natural as broccoli. You just 
have to trust me on this, alright?" 
 
"OK. Here goes." Fran swallowed the first pill. "When will it start 
to work?" 
 
"I don't know. Come by in a few days and we'll check." 
 
"I will. Thanks Sally. I don't really know why you're doing this for 
me, but if this works, it would really change my life." 
 
 
But Sally didn't see Fran for several days, until after five days, 
after she saw Greg leave, she knocked on Fran's door. 
 
"Who's there?" 
 
"It's me, your neighbor, Sally. Please let me in." 
 
"Go away. I look horrible." 
 
"Come on, Fran. It's important. You know why. At least you have to 
let me check you. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want you." 
 
Fran didn't say anything, but opened the door. The house was dark and 
untidy. Fran was in her bathrobe, her hair uncombed. the right side of 
her face swollen. 
 
"Don't say anything, OK. I shouldn't let you see me like this." 
 
Sally shook her head and put her finger to her lips. She led Fran to 
the kitchen and put her bag down on the kitchen table. "I just want to 
check your heart and blood pressure and measure your arm and 
elsewhere." She talked while she worked. "You seem fine, although it 
looks like you're not eating enough." 
 
I never feel like eating. How can anyone eat? 
 
"I can't. My mouth is too sore." 
 
"Well, do what I told you. Drink milkshakes. Do you have any ice 
cream?" Fran nodded. "Good. I bet Greg eats it by the gallon. Well, 
have five or ten a day, and put some raw egg in it. Get plenty of 
protein. Well, I can tell you, it's working, although you can't see it, 
because you haven't eaten enough. Aren't you hungry?" Fran shrugged. 
"Let me make you one of my special milkshakes, OK? I'm a pretty good 
cook, especially for things I can't eat. Try this." 
 
That's nice of her. This is good. 
 
Fran drank, slowly at first, then taking larger and larger gulps until 
she finished. "I didn't realize I was so hungry. I could eat 
another." After half an hour, Fran had finished four large shakes. 
"Goodness, I've used up all the milk, and the eggs! I better go out. 
But I can't go out looking like this." 
 
"Don't worry, I'll shop for you. Just give me a list, OK? Have you 
been taking your pills?" Fran nodded. "Keep it up. I'm going to give 
you some more. And you can take two a day now. Let me just check you 
again. Hold up your arm. Ahh, I can see something already." 
 
I don't feel any different, although it did feel good to eat. 
 
"It looks the same to me." 
 
"Try lifting one of those detergent bottles you say are too heavy for 
you." 
 
Fran led Sally to the laundry room and Sally retrieved an economy size 
container of liquid Tide. "Gee, I can see why you'd have trouble with 
this. I can barely lift it myself. You try." 
 
Fran made a silly face and pulled at the jug. To her surprise, she 
picked it up and then lifted it over her head, with one hand. "I can't 
believe it. I've never been able to do that!" 
 
Oh my god! This really works. I'm so excited. I can't wait 'til she 
goes so I can try some other things. 
 
"It's just the beginning Fran. On two pills a day, you will get 
stronger even faster. And keep eating. I bet you could eat another 
shake already." 
 
I'm going to eat five. 
 
"Why, you're right. I should feel stuffed for the day, but I really 
could eat more right now." 
 
"Pay attention to your appetite, OK? And remember, you're well on your 
way." 
 
"I guess I am. Thanks Sally. For shopping for me, for understanding, 
for not saying anything. This is really something isn't it?" 
 
"Yes it is Fran." 
 
 
Four days later, Sally heard a brisk knock on the door. It was Fran. 
Her face was almost back to its regular size, and she held herself 
erect, the first time Sally had seen her that way. 
 
"You're looking good Fran. Come on in." 
 
"Thanks. I'm so excited. Look at this." She rolled up her sleeve and 
flexed her arm. "I have a muscle. And I can tell it's getting bigger 
every day. I wait until Greg leaves in the morning to check it, and I 
can see that it's growing. I've been taking the two pills every 
morning, and eating a lot, like you told me, and it's really working." 
 
"I'm so pleased Fran. Yes, it really is working. I would guess your 
arms are about the size of, say, a teenage boy. And the rest of your 
body is filling out too. Look at your legs, and your stomach." 
 
A teenage boy. Ha! I'm a lot stronger than any teenage boy. But I'm 
not going to tell her that. I don't want her to take me off these 
pills. It's funny how it doesn't show as much as I feel it. 
 
"Yes. I can't believe it. My legs aren't so skinny anymore. In fact, 
they're growing the most. And my tummy is getting really firm. Even 
my breast s look better." 
 
"Well, they're getting better support from your pecs. You've gained 
about fifteen pounds, all in the right places I should say. Tell me, 
has Greg noticed?" 
 
Are you kidding? The only time he looks at me is when we're going out 
somewhere. Then he checks me over to make sure I measure up to his 
friends' girls. He did notice my boobs though. 
 
"No. He hasn't noticed a thing. I've been sort of hiding from him, 
wearing bulky clothes." 
 
"What about when you, I mean, I don't want to pry, but I'm curious." 
 
I didn't realize she was such a prude. Or maybe she thinks I am. 
Better play along. 
 
Fran blushed. "Oh, that? We don't do it much during the season. Greg 
worries that it will hurt his game. He doesn't know." 
 
"Well, that's good. It's probably better for you that he not find out 
until you're ready for him." 
 
That's the truth! He'd kill me if he knew what I was up to. 
 
"Yeah, that's what I thought. But now he's going away for ten days. 
Road games and practice and some publicity stuff in New York. So I 
feel safe for awhile." 
 
He was pretty mad when I told him I wouldn't go with him. Good thing I 
waited until he was late for his plane to tell him. 
 
"It sounds like this is the time to really put you over the top. I'm 
going to give you a lot more now Fran. I want you to take five pills a 
day, one with each meal, because I expect you will want to eat five 
large meals every day. Come by whenever you like, I can do some tests 
to make sure your body is reacting well. But I can tell that so far 
it's agreeing with you. 
 
Yes! Just what I wanted. Wish I could find where she gets this stuff. 
 
"Oh I feel great! I can move all the furniture around when I'm 
cleaning, all by myself. And I have so much energy. Things are 
changing so fast. I don't know what to say." 
 
Move the furniture around! Where do I come up with these things? I've 
been playing with his stupid weight machine when he's out. I can 
already do more than he can! Wait until I do these five times a day. 
Wow! 
 
"Well, don't say anything. Just keep it up, and keep coming by. I 
want to see how you're doing." 
 
 
 I can't believe I can eat so much and still want more. Just to see 
what's going on, I ate a whole ten pound roast and then sat in front of 
a mirror and watched the bulge in my stomach go away and new muscle 
appear in my arms. How is this happening? Greg won't like it. He 
always likes me so slender and light that I can sit on his arm while he 
lifts me over his head. That was fun; I liked to feel his strength. 
But the other side of it was awful. He could hurt me so badly, so 
easily. Early on, I tried to defend myself with my fists . He just 
burst out laughing. He made me hit him, again and again, in the 
stomach, until my arms go too tired to lift them. He didn't even 
flinch, and my hands were sore for days. He won't dare try that now. 
 
 
After three days, Sally knocked at Fran's back door. "You look great! 
 I don't think I have to do anything. This obviously agrees with you." 
 
"I feel a little funny about being so big. In fact, I'm afraid to go 
outside. I've been ordering my groceries for delivery, and I keep 
switching supermarkets because I don't want any of them to know how much 
I'm eating." 
 
"Some of the neighbors are wondering why they haven't seen you, but I 
told them you were a little under the weather, and that I was looking 
after you . They were relieved. They thought Greg had really hurt 
you." 
 
"I can't believe everybody knew." 
 
"Well, let's see. Your heartbeat is up to one hundred beats a minute, 
resting. And when you ran in place you pushed it up to two hundred 
fifty. My guess is that isn't even making you tired. Am I right?" 
 
"Sure. I feel I could go all day." 
 
"Well, you probably couldn't. This pill doesn't do nearly as much for 
endurance as it does for your strength, but it doesn't hurt either. 
Your weight is up to two hundred pounds. How do you feel about that?" 
 
"A little funny. I mean, you were right about not losing my breasts, 
but there's so much muscle on my chest and stomach that they kind of 
look lost. And I've kept a figure, but its different. I can't wear 
any of my clothes anymore. It's a good thing I don't need a bra." 
 
"I know. Well, you'll have to wear different things for awhile. When 
you feel more comfortable about going out I'm sure you'll find some 
nice new clothes. Have you tried to see how strong you are?" 
 
"Not really. I just like doing some of the things I couldn't do before 
." 
 
Yeah, like lifting the car up to clean up grease spots! She must think 
I'm really strange. I mean, who wouldn't try out a new body like this. 
 
"Does Greg have a weight room?" 
 
"Sure, in the basement. But I don't know how to use it." 
 
"That's alright. I'm sure we can figure it out. Let's go see." 
 
Sally sizes up Greg's exercise equipment. "This is real fancy. I wish 
 I had something like this in my basement. I suppose Greg's the only 
one who uses it, so these are probably all his settings. Why don't you 
see what you can do with the arm curls?" 
 
This playing dumb is getting kind of old. I just need her to keep 
giving me those pills. 
 
"What do I do?" 
 
"Just hold the bar with your right hand and lift it up. It's pretty 
simple. I mean, it's way too heavy for me, see? But see what you can 
do." 
 
Fran takes the bar and easily lifts it. "That's not very hard." 
 
"Try doing it ten times. That's what people do when they exercise. 
Greg probably sets it at a level he can do ten times." Fran repeats 
the exercise, this time with a little strain. "I'd say, Fran, that we 
could stop right now. You're probably stronger than Greg already. It's 
up to you how far you go." 
 
"You're kidding, right? I can't be stronger than him. He's much 
bigger than I am." 
 
"That doesn't really matter. This pill gives you more strength per 
pound of muscle than a man would have. If you were his size, well, I 
don't know how strong you'd be. Maybe two or three times his strength. 
Do you want to go for it?" 
 
"I don't know. I mean, why stop now?" 
 
"It's up to you. You're strong enough now certainly to protect 
yourself, and the pill will keep working a bit for a few days after you 
stop, so you'll still get bigger if you stopped now. On the other hand, 
I'd be happy to let you keep going for a another day or too. That's if 
you want to give him a real shock. But remember, once you put this 
muscle on, it isn't going to go away. It's a one way street." 
 
I'm home free! 
 
"It's kind of like those game shows, but I don't see how I lose." 
 
"OK. Just as long as you understand." 
 
 
Four days later, Greg arrived home, tired, hungry, and irritated by 
having to compress himself into a coach seat during the six hour trip. 
The skimpy dinner the airline gave him did not help his mood. 
 
He's home! Better hurry and change into that skintight exercise outfit 
 I ordered through the mail. That'll really shock him. 
 
"Hey Fran, what do you have cooking? I'm starved." 
 
"Hi honey. Glad you're home. I'm upstairs. I'm afraid we're a little 
low on food. I can make you some macaroni or something." 
 
"Macaroni! I was thinking of a steak. Is that all you have for me, 
after I've been away for two weeks?" 
 
"Sorry, I haven't been able to get out to buy anything." 
 
Oh, oh, that will make him angry. I hear him coming upstairs. 
 
"What do you mean? What have you been doing? All you have to do 
around here is keep the house together. Why can't What the hell 
happened to you?" 
 
He can't believe the way I look. Frankly, neither can I. I weigh a 
little less than him, but I look bigger because I'm shorter. And he 
has no idea how strong I am. 
 
"Um, I decided it was time I did some exercising. It's really a lot of 
fun, honey. I can see why you like football so much. I found " 
 
"Don't give me this crap. No girl can look like you look after a 
hundred years of lifting weights. You're nearly as big as I am. 
You've got to be on some kind of drug. And even then, I've never heard 
of anything that will work that fast. What is it?" 
 
"I don't know what you're talking about. You know I would never take 
drugs." 
 
"Come on Fran, you're going to make me die from laughing. First you 
look like a circus freak. Second you expect me to believe that a girl 
whose never been able to lift anything more than ten pounds is going to 
blow up into superman in two weeks? Forget it. I'm going out for a 
steak. You can think about what you want to tell me if I come back." 
 
Shit! I didn't think he'd just leave. 
 
"Greg. Don't go. You've just been gone for so long. At least let me 
come with you. I haven't eaten yet. We can go together." 
 
"You can eat the macaroni. You think I'm going to be seen with you?" 
 
Fran starts to cry. "You're so mean. How can you say that?" 
 
"Without asking me, you turned yourself into I don't know what. This is 
your problem, not mine. But I'm not going to be laughed at by the guys 
I know for going around with a girl who looks like one of my teammates. 
That's final. " 
 
"I'm not going to let you walk out like this." 
 
"Oh yeah? You and who else?" 
 
"Me all by myself. I'm pretty strong now. You can't just push me 
around anymore." 
 
"Give me a break Fran and let me go while I'm still laughing. I don't 
want to prick your balloon or anything, but you're the one who's going 
to get hurt. So just leave me alone." 
 
Fran steps forward until she's within reach of Greg. 
 
"No girl's going to tell me what to do. Just lay off!" Greg throws 
out his meaty fist and catches Fran in the cheek. She stumbles back, 
hand on her face. 
 
OK buster. You asked for it. 
 
"You can't do this anymore. I won't stand for it!" 
 
"I just did. Now, are you going to back off, or do I have to do it 
again? I'm not kidding." 
 
Fran walks toward Greg again, and Greg puts his arms out to push her 
back, but this time, Fran blindly swings her arms and knocks Greg's 
hands out of the way. While he's off balance, she slaps him hard, on 
the upper arm. Greg winces. 
 
Damn! That looked like it hurt. 
 
"Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, but you " 
 
While Fran apologizes, Greg rears back to punch her. Fran ducks out of 
the way, and grabs hold of Greg's overextended arm and twists it behind 
his back. 
 
"I told you I'm strong. Now it's your turn to get hurt." As Greg 
cries out, she twists it further and further and then lets go. 
 
That was so easy! I wonder how far I can take this. 
 
"You bitch! I thought you were going to break it. That would've 
finished me for the season." 
 
Don't want to do that. But I do want to scare him. 
 
"Is that what you say when I stop? Call me a bitch? How would you 
like a black eye or two, or a twisted leg or a swollen face?" 
 
"I don't know what's happened to you, but there's still a few things 
you don't know." Greg whirls and aims a kick at Fran's abdomen, but 
she tightens her muscles, and his kick only pushes her back a few 
steps. Greg fires a right jab at her face, but Fran stops it with her 
hand, then picks Greg up by the belt and shoulder and throws him across 
the room, onto the bed. Before he can get up, she leaps on top of him, 
sitting on him and wrapping her legs around his. 
 
"Go on, Greg, try to get me off." Fran squeezes her legs, just a 
little. "Is that too tight for you? I'll lean forward." Greg 
struggles to push Fran off, but she holds his arms firmly. Feeling 
satisfied, she rolls off and lets him get up. 
 
"Had enough Greg?" 
 
"I don't know how you did that, but you better watch your step. I can 
still take you." 
 
"Oh, you think so? She places her hands around his biceps. "Show me 
what you've got Greg. Let's see your big muscles." 
 
"I'm still bigger than you are," he says and proudly flexes his right 
arm. "See?" Fran takes her thumb and forefinger, as if to measure 
Greg's considerable arm, but then tightly squeezes it, compresing his 
bicep between her fingers. Greg pulls his arm away and rubs it. 
 
"I don't know dear. To me, it feels pretty soft. Try doing that to me 
." She raises her arm and tightens her bicep. Greg gapes at the 
incongruous sight of a twenty three inch muscle on his formerly petite 
wife, but wraps his hand around it and squeezes. 
 
"I don't believe it! It's like a rock!" 
 
"Why are you so upset, Greg? You always told me I should be in better 
shape. You always loved to get me on your exercise machine. Or was 
that because you wanted to show off? How strong you were! How weak I 
was! Lots of fun for you. Well, let's have some more of that fun now." 
She pushes Greg toward the stairs. "Come on, move it. Go down to the 
basement." 
 
"No. I'm not playing this stupid game anymore. Why should I act out 
some fantasy for you?" 
 
"This is no fantasy Greg. This is reality. This is life. Your life. 
Our life." She picks him up in the air, over her head. "Are you sure 
you've been eating enough Greg? You feel pretty light to me." She 
lets go with one hand and starts pushing him up and down with her left 
arm. "If you won't let me go to the machine, I'll just have to do my 
exercising here. Fifteeen, sixteen, seventeen. I could go to a 
hundred, you know. Wanna see?" 
 
Eyes wide, Greg shakes his head. "J-j-just how strong are you?" 
 
"Thirty-two, thirty-three, oh, I don't know." Keeping hold of Greg by 
his belt, she carries him to the dresser, where some of his high school 
trophies are displayed, and puts him down on top. "This trophy. It's 
some kind of metal, isn't it? Fran wraps her hand around it and 
squeezes and lets go. The imprints of her fingers are now pressed into 
the figure of the receiver hugging the ball to his chest. "Sorry to 
ruin that trophy, but you asked." Turning to look him in the eye. "If 
that's what I can do with these little fingers, just think about the 
rest of me. All that power, wrapped up in Fran's little body. Well, 
not so little anymore, but still nice and compact. And, yes, smaller 
than you, my big, strong husband. At least for now. So what do you say 
about dinner? Are you taking me out tonight, or are you gonna make me 
some dinner?" 
 
"What! Me cook for you?" 
 
"Then it's a restaurant! Goody. Let's go to Grady's." 
 
"Not Grady's. All my buddies will be there." 
 
"Then it's exactly the place I want to go." She looks at Greg and 
raises an eyebrow. "Come on, you don't want to have a fight about it, 
do you?" He shakes his head. "Good. I hate fighting. Let's go." 
 
 
 
"That's hilarious Sally. What a great story!" 
 
"So what happened when they went out?" 
 
"She had saved a couple more pills and popped them in the car, then 
proceeded to eat ten two pound steaks in front of the whole team. She 
was wearing some kind of baggy shirt and jacket. 'Oh guys, you know 
me. I'm always so cold.' Greg tried to warn his friends, but she shot 
him a look and he was too scared. Finally, one of them passes a remark 
about whether she was eating for two or three or something and she 
pretended to get offended and started crying. Then she took control of 
herself and said she was getting kind of hot and took off her jacket and 
the whole table got quiet when they got a look at her arms. She just 
looked down and pretended to be surprised. 'Oh my, there must have been 
something in those steaks. It's too bad you boys didn't eat them. Will 
you just look at these muscles?' And then she flexes her arms, which by 
then must have had about 25" biceps. The guys must have died with 
envy!" 
 
"This is so much fun! I can't wait to hear about some of the others." 
 
"Ladies. Ladies." Erica is serious. "I know you're all enjoying this 
after all our hard work, but remember, we're doing this for a reason. 
Next week, we'll find out about Ellen's experiment with the high school 
girls." 
 
 
New Woman pt. 2 
 Darla and Her Friends 
 
"Hey tough girl. What's new?" 
 
"Ellen! What are you doing around here? How come we never see you 
anymore?" 
 
"Oh, I've been busy on a project, but it's almost done. I thought you 
and some of your friends might want to be the first to try it out. 
Interested? " 
 
"I don't know. What do you have going that would interest me?" Darla 
popped a bubble with her chewing gum. She was about five foot three, 
and dressed in a black leather jacket and torn blue jeans. 
 
Ellen shrugged. "Wait a bit. Are you still hanging out with your girl 
gang?" 
 
"Yeah. Me, Cindy, Melissa, Toni. We're still pretty tight. Why?" 
 
"Any of you seeing any guys?" 
 
"Just the usual hangin' around, getting in trouble. Except for Toni. 
She's been dating someone for a few months. Nothing serious though." 
 
"Can the four of you keep a secret? Or do we have to keep Toni out of 
it? I don't know her. Will she tell her boyfriend?" 
 
"Don't worry about her. She's one of us. We'd kill her if she 
squealed on us. Anyway, what's the big secret?" 
 
"We call it the New Woman pill." 
 
"What is it, some kind of birth control?" 
 
"No, much better than that. It's more like the great equalizer. It'll 
make your gang the toughest thing around." 
 
"Oh yeah? How?" 
 
"Face it Darla. You girls want to be bad, but how much damage can you 
do? You run around and tease the boys, cut school, make wisecracks, do 
some shoplifting, but it's all pretty small time. When you come right 
down to it, you're all a sideshow, because no one takes you seriously. 
And you know why? Because you're just girls. No one is really afraid 
of you, right? I mean, who can you scare? Old ladies? Storekeepers 
who can't watch all of you at once? You always have to keep one eye out 
to make sure you don't make anybody really mad at you; otherwise you'll 
get caught and get beaten up. Am I right? Be honest." 
 
Darla looked down. "Well, we're pretty dangerous, for being girls and 
all. And the Black Diamonds back us up when we need help." 
 
"Well, how would you like to be dangerous all by yourselves?" 
 
"Sure. But I don't want to start packing guns or anything. We're not 
looking to kill people." 
 
"Did I say anything about guns? What I have for you is the answer to 
your dreams, Darla. You sign up for my project, and in less than a 
month your little group will be the tops, anywhere." 
 
"You still didn't tell me what these pills do. They're not like crack 
or something, make us crazy and wild. I don't think I want that 
either." 
 
"They won't make you any crazier than you already are. They'll just 
make you strong." 
 
"Oh. I've heard of that stuff. And you get acne and can't have babies 
. Why are you pushing that kind of stuff on me? I thought you were my 
friend." 
 
"They're not steroids Darla. They won't give you chest hair or deepen 
your voice either. This is something totally new. No one except my 
group knows anything about it. But I am telling you. It works and it 
is totally safe." 
 
"You're telling me that by taking this pill I can get stronger? Well, 
how much stronger?" 
 
"You won't believe it, so I'm not going to tell you. Just try it, OK? 
Have some fun. Just don't kill anybody, OK, and just don't tell anyone 
about it, except for your gang." 
 
"Alright. But why are you giving this to me? It's not like doing this 
is for the good of mankind. I mean, me and my gang, we're not exactly 
saints. Face it, you make us strong, we'll just get into more trouble. 
Aren't we going to mess this up for you?" 
 
"I'm not doing this to get famous, Darla. So long as you don't blow my 
cover, I'll be happy just to see you do whatever you want to do." 
 
"Like you're studying us or something." 
 
"That's right. That's what's in it for me. You take it and do what 
you want. I'm just curious to see what'll happen." 
 
"So we both get something out of it." 
 
"You got it. Now. Here's enough for you and your group for this first 
week. Come back and see me when you finish them and I'll give you 
more." 
 
"Hey, thanks Ellen. This is going to be fun." 
 
 
Two days later, Darla and her friends sat on the basement floor of 
Cindy's house, which was the most comfortable place they could meet, 
Cindy being the only one among the gang who lived with both her parents. 
At first glance, they all looked cut out of the same mold: heavy make- 
up, frosted blond hair, fingernails painted bright red, three or four 
earrings dangling from each ear, and gum in their mouths. But there 
were some distinctions. Cindy's jeans, and the rest of her clothes had 
designer labels. Melissa's face wore the subtle gradations of color 
applied by an artist, and the ruffles on the sleeves of her jacket and 
the color matched bow in her hair showed an attention to appearances the 
others didn't share. Toni was a year younger than the others, and 
closely matched Darla, the group leader, in her style, to the point 
where you could see every tear in Darla's clothes duplicated on Toni's. 
Toni watched Darla constantly, eager to pick up the cues of any change 
in direction of conversation or purpose. 
 
"So what's the big news, Darla? Why'd we have to come over hear so 
fast? My Mom's going to be really pissed when I miss dinner again." 
 
"I got something that's going to put us on the map. Something that'll 
make us different from anyone else, anywhere. And going to let all of 
you in on it, if you can keep it quiet." 
 
"Gee, Darla. Tell us." 
 
"First, you all have to promise not to tell. Cindy, especially you." 
 
"Why are always picking on me, Darla? You know I'm in, 100%." 
 
"Cause the last time I had a big secret, your parents found out and 
ruined the whole thing, and I don't want that happening again. This is 
too good to let any of you mess it up." 
 
"OK, OK. I won't tell a soul." 
 
"Toni. You can't tell Chuck. Even if he notices something and starts 
asking questions." 
 
"Oh I wouldn't ever tell. And Chuck won't see anything, because I 
won't show him anything." 
 
"Well, he will too ask you. Any of you notice anything about me?" 
 
They all look at Darla carefully. Melissa says, "you look the same to 
me, except you're getting fat. You need to lay off that sweet stuff." 
 
"I'm not fat guys. Hey, Melissa. You've always been the strongest of 
the gang. Let's arm-wrestle." 
 
"Sure, Darla. Whatever you say. Hey! You never beat me before." 
 
"Pretty quick, wasn't it?" Darla rolls up her arm. "Look at this 
muscle guys." Darla flexed her arm, and a small bulge appeared. 
 
"Wow, Darla. Have you been working out?" 
 
"No Toni. Not one bit. I got this just since Tuesday, when I started 
taking these little pills." 
 
"What are they? Where'd you get them?" 
 
"I don't know what they are. What do you think, I'm some kind of 
scientist or something? That's why I took them first,, so I could see 
if they worked and show you guys. And I want all of you to take 'em 
too. Hey! We'll be the toughest gang around after a few weeks." 
 
Melissa looked at her own arms. "I can't believe you beat me. It 
figures you'd give yourself a head start. Are you going to give us the 
same thing you have?" 
 
"Sure. I wouldn't cheat you guys. Everyone gets the same amount." 
 
"I see why you said Chuck'll notice. He's going to be able to tell if 
I start growing muscles, won't he Darla?" 
 
"He sure will Toni, unless you make him keep his hands off you. And I 
don't guess you're going to do that, are you?" 
 
"Well, no. I mean, is that OK?" 
 
"It's up to you Toni, but you better not tell him anything. Just play 
dumb." 
 
"That'll be easy for her," cracked Cindy. 
 
"But what if he doesn't like it? He likes me the way I am." 
 
"It's up to you, Toni. But if I were you, I wouldn't miss out on this. 
You're not going to get a second chance to be one of the strongest 
people in the world." 
 
"What do you mean, 'in the world'? How far is this going to go?" 
 
"I got enough pills for each of us to take for four weeks, and there's 
more where these came from. You saw what it did for me after two days. 
Doesn't take a genius to figure out that a month of this stuff will 
have some pretty amazing results. Think of all the fun we can have. 
We can beat up guys, do whatever we want in gym class and drive Mrs. 
Grand crazy. Cindy, you can screw around with that guy next door 
you've had a crush on for the last month. I don't know. It'll be a 
total gas." 
 
The group crowded around Darla to get their pills and swallowed the 
first dose. 
 
"Oh, one other thing. This stuff makes you hungry as anything, so eat 
up and don't worry. Cindy, can you spring for some pizza? One for 
each of us, OK?" 
 
"I can't eat a whole pizza, Darla." 
 
"You have no idea what you can do Cindy. Believe me." 
 
 
"Brent, are you busy Saturday? How about taking me out to the movies?" 
 
"Sorry Cindy. I've got other plans. Maybe some other time, when 
you're a little older." 
 
"Aw Brent. Why don't you take me seriously? I really like you , you 
know. I don't know what you see in that Wendy anyway. She seems 
really stuck up and phony to me." 
 
"Wendy is a very intelligent and cultured woman, Cindy. You could 
learn a lot from her." 
 
"Like what?" 
 
"Like paying attention to your studies, like good behavior, like how to 
dress, and not to ask boys out on dates. They don't like it, you 
know.. I don't know why your parents haven't taught you these things." 
 
"They don't have anything to teach me. And I don't see what I can't 
ask you out. I'd have to die before you noticed me all by muself." 
 
"I think you should find a nice fellow more your own age. You'd have 
more in common with him anyway." 
 
"But I like you, Brent. You're older. You know so much more than the 
guys at school. And I think you're really cute. Don't you think I'm 
attractive?" Cindy stretched her arms over her head, thrusting her 
chest out. "I know I have a nice figure." 
 
Despite himself, Brent found himself looking her over. "You are 
growing up Cindy. But no, I'm seeing Wendy. I'm sorry Cindy. You're 
really not the girl for me. Oh, Wendy's here. We have a study date 
together. Gotta go. " 
 
That makes me so mad. And what's he going to think of me when these 
pills start working? I can already see and feel the difference, but so 
far I can hide it, although I really don't know how much longer I can 
do that. What'll my parents say? I guess I'll just tell them I decided 
to start working out. They'll think it's good for me. "Good 
discipline Cynthia! I'm glad you're applying yourself to something at 
last. But while you're at it, how about your schoolwork?" I'm so sick 
of them and that creepy Brent too! 
 
 
It's Thursday night, one week since the girls started on New Woman. 
Melissa is standing in front of her bedroom mirror, scowling. 
 
This muscle is starting to show. None of my clothes look right. My 
shoulders are getting bigger. 
 
She puts her arms on her hips and notices the curve of her new biceps 
in her upper arms. 
 
It actually looks pretty cool. I've always been strong for a girl, but 
I've never seen a muscle like that except on a guy. But it also looks 
funny to me. What will it look like when it's even bigger? I may as 
well accept the fact that I won't be able to hide it. 
 
She removes her blouse and throws it on the bed, then slips out of her 
bra as well. 
 
That's interesting. I don't really need a brassiere. It must be 
stronger pectoral muscles. 
 
She pulls out a sleeveless, low cut top and shorts and puts them on. 
 
This looks good, but I know I'm going to get comments from the guys. 
'Where did these muscles come from?' Tough! I can take it. 
 
Melissa flexes her arm, a bit bashfully. 
 
I think I like it. 
 
 
Another week passes. Melissa and Darla are strolling around outside 
the door of The Corner Shop at the mall. Darla wears her usual torn 
black sweatshirt and jeans, which are filled out by her now broad 
shoulders and deep chest. Melissa is bolder in a pleated short sleeve 
blouse that reveals the new bulges in her arms and a lot of cleavage. 
 
"That dress I like is in here, but I don't think it will fit right any 
more. My shoulders are too big." 
 
"You'd be an idiot to buy anything now Melissa. At least wait until 
the pills are done so you know how big you'll get. Look at me!" 
 
"Sorry Darl. I just can't go out like that. Shit. It's Mark and 
Bobby. They're the last guys I want to see right now." 
 
The two boys see Melissa and saunter over. "Hey girls! Looking for 
something to rip off? How 'bout ripping off my blue jeans? Bet you 
don't know what's inside!" 
 
"Shut up dorks! We don't need your sick humor." 
 
Mark eyes Darla and moves closer. "What's the matter darling Darl? 
Can't take a little joking these days? Look's like you're putting on a 
few pounds here and there in the chest. Mind if I check it out?" 
 
"Leave her alone Mark, if you know what's good for you." 
 
"Uh oh Bobby. I'm scared. Darla's little protector here doesn't like 
me being fresh." He looks over Melissa. "You're such a tease girl, 
but you have real style." 
 
"I've got more than style." 
 
"And what more is that? I know you've got tits, cause you're showing 
'em to me. Why don't we go down to my car so I can see the rest." 
 
Darla and Melissa turn around and walk away, but the boys follow them 
through the mall. Darla leads Melissa through Macy's to lose them and 
then down a staircase on another floor. They sit, laughing, at the 
bottom of the stairwell. "Can you believe how lame those guys are?" 
 
"Total zeros. You really know how to attract the losers Lis." 
 
Suddenly the door opens and Mark and Bobby are standing in front of 
them at the bottom of the stairwell, out of breath. "You didn't really 
think you could give us the slip so easily, did you? We know this 
place as well as you do." Mark is standing at the door, while Bobby 
has stepped past the girls and is now standing above them, two stairs 
up. 
 
"Blow off guys. Go find someone else to bug." 
 
"You've made us work so hard to find you. You don't really expect us 
to go away?" 
 
"Yeah Melissa. How 'bout showing us more of your tomatos now. It's 
real private here!" 
 
Bobby reaches out to pull down the front of her blouse, but Melissa 
slaps his hand away. He slaps her back across the cheek. "I don't 
take no shit from girls like you. I say if you didn't want us to touch 
'em, don't show 'em." 
 
"Maybe I didn't think you'd be coming along to see 'em you disgusting 
pig!" 
 
"Oh Melissa, I just love hearing you talk tough to me. Give me more." 
 
"Think twice guys before you start something. We're no pushovers you 
know." 
 
The boys look at each other and smirk. "Yeah, we heard about you 
Darla. Pretty tough the way you handled that group of nine year olds." 
 
Darla shakes her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you. We've been 
working out, haven't we Melissa?" Melissa nods. 
 
"Oh my. I'm scared." Mark grabs Melissa's wrist. "Let's see how 
tough you are." 
 
Melissa pushes Mark's chest and he falls against the door. He gets up, 
rubbing his back. 
 
"Hey Darla, these must be more of that gang of nine year olds we saw 
last week. Should we take care of them hear or call their mommas to 
come get them?" 
 
"You can't talk to me like that Melissa. No girl can!" He starts to 
slap her again, but she ducks out of the way and, planting her foot on 
his thigh, pushes him back against the door. 
 
"I think I'm a lot tougher than you Mark. But I'll give you a chance 
to check me out before yo do anything too stupid. Why don't we arm 
wrestle?" 
 
"You gotta be kidding? What'll that settle?" 
 
"Let's make it interesting." Melissa pulls out $50 in crumpled bills 
from her purse. "You got any money?" 
 
"Hey sure. I'll bet you. I'll even give you odds, I'll bet my $100 
against your fifty. Winner takes all." 
 
For the moment, they settle down on the stairs. Melissa winks at Darla 
and holds up her right arm against Mark's. Darla checks them and tells 
them to start. Mark pushes from the beginning and moves Melissa back 
a few inches, but is surprised when she stops him and they stay locked 
in a standoff for ten seconds. 
 
"I've had enough Mark. Get ready." Melissa pushes and easily slams 
Mark's hand down against the stair. "Looks like I have enough to buy 
my dress now." 
 
Mark is incredulous. "How did you do that?" 
 
"You jerk, Mark. Letting a girl beat you!" 
 
"How about you Bobby? Wanna try the same thing with me? How much you 
got on you?" 
 
Bobby checks his pockets. "I got two hundred dollars. How about you?" 
 
Darla looks in her purse. "I only have twenty." 
 
"Hey Darla, take mine. You guys want to try to win back my $150? I'll 
stake Darla." 
 
"OK. Let's do it!" Bobby takes off his jacket and rubs his hands 
together. "You may have something on Mark, but I work out. No girl's 
gonna beat me. This'll be the easiest money I've ever made!" 
 
Now they sit opposite each other. They're about to start, when Darla 
stops. "No. Wait. I'm not ready." 
 
Bobby flexes his muscle. "What's the matter Darla? You're not going 
to try to get out of it now, are you?" 
 
"Oh I don't think so. I'm just a little warm. I gotta take my 
sweatshirt off." She pulls it off, leaving only a sleeveless halter. 
"There, that's better." 
 
Bobby stares at her. "What's happened to you?" 
 
"What do you mean? Oh these?" She points to the bicep on her left arm 
, making her other muscle pop up and harden. "I've just been working 
out a little. Are you ready?" She holds up her right arm, flexing her 
muscle a few times to warm up. 
 
"Hey Bobby, she's got bigger muscles than you do!" 
 
"What's the problem Bobby? Do you know how to play, or what?" She 
grabs his right hand and holds it up in position. "Are you ready, or 
are you just gonna give me your money?" 
 
"Sure, I'm ready." 
 
"Good. One, two, three, Go!" Darla slams his hand down in a second. 
"That was too easy Melissa. It's not much of a contest against boys. 
We'd have more fun against each other." She and Melisss lock arms and 
the boys notice Melissa's muscles too. 
 
"You girls are freaks. What are you doing, taking hormones or 
something?" 
 
Melissa shakes her head and then her shoulders, smirking while the boys 
follow the bouncing of her breasts. "I don't think I have to worry 
about my femininity. Come on Darla. I'm tired of this." 
 
The girls leave. 
 
"Hey Bobby, did that really happen?" 
 
"My wallet feels pretty light, so it must have." 
 
"But I don't get it. Those girls never had any muscles before. All of 
 a sudden they're bigger than half the football team." 
 
"Yeah. And did you see the tits on Melissa?" 
 
"You're not kidding. Muscles and tits." 
 
 
From inside her room Cindy can see Brent working out in his backyard. 
 
He's got such a gorgeous body. I could just sit her all day and watch 
him. I really wish he liked me. 
 
She looks down at her arms and chest. 
 
I bet I'm bigger now than he is. I wonder what he'd think of that. 
But I'm kidding myself. He never cared about the way I looked before. 
Like he's going to like me less now? It's so hopeless. The only way 
I'd ever get him in bed is if I dragged him there. 
 
Cindy watches a while longer. 
 
It would be kind of fun to try. My parents are gone for a few days, 
and his left for a month. I bet I could get him to come over, like for 
dinner or something. 
 
"Hey Brent! How're you doing?" 
 
Brent stops his situps for a moment and looks up. "Oh. Hello Cindy." 
 
"I thought you might be getting hungry, your Mom gone and everything. 
Mine left me a lot of food. Want to come over for dinner?" 
 
He's scowling. What a creep! Wait, maybe not. 
 
"I am getting a bit bored with frozen dinners. And Wendy is out of 
town for the weekend. That would be fine then. Do you know how to 
cook Cindy?" 
 
"Oh sure. I'm a great cook. When can you come over?" 
 
Let's see. I have another half hour of calisthenics before I'm done. 
Then a brief run and a shower and some work on my paper. Say, half 
past six?" 
 
"That would be great. It's a date!" 
 
Brent looks up with a pained expression. "It's not a date Cindy. You 
understand that, right?" 
 
"Sure Brent. I understand. Just dinner. See you then." 
 
Oh my god! He's coming! What'll I do? Cook? Better use some of that 
chicken stuff Mom left in the freezer. That will be easy. But what 
will I wear? Nothing fits right, I'm so big. I know. That long 
sleeve dress Mom bought when she was fat. I can do something with that. 
 
Three hours later, the door rings. Brent is wearing his sweatshirt, 
still damp with perspiration. 
 
"You're quite dressed up for a dinner at home Cindy. I'm sorry. I had 
 a brilliant idea while I was running and I just didn't have time to 
change before dinner. I hope that's alright." 
 
"It's fine Brent. Do I look OK?" 
 
"To be honest Cindy, you've splashed a bit of sauce on your sleeve 
there. And you look like you're getting a bit stocky. You know, Wendy 
has studied a lot about diet to prolong her modeling career. You might 
want to consult with her about what you eat." 
 
"How can you say that? She'd be the last person I'd talk to!" 
 
"I was giving you my opinion only because you asked. Forget I said 
anything. Let's change the subject. It's awfully nice you asked me to 
dinner. I'm quite hungry. Is it ready?" 
 
"Yes. Right in here." 
 
"Oh, you've laid a nice setting. And me in my sweatshirt. Well, let's 
dig in." 
 
They sit down and start on the salad. "This is quite good Cindy. You 
know, if you cook well, a man will really appreciate you. What did you 
put in this dressing? 
 
How should I know? It's from a jar. 
 
"Oh, just the usual stuff, oil, vinegar, uh " 
 
"That's alright. You needn't tell me. My, you must be hungry! You're 
eating so quickly. I'm so sorry I'm late. Why don't you go ahead and 
serve the rest of dinner. I'm sure I'll catch up." 
 
Cindy brings out a large platter of roast chicken. 
 
"Oh that's such a lot of food. I could never eat that much." 
 
"I can." 
 
"Excuse me for saying this Cindy, but that cannot be healthy for you. 
You have a nice figure. I don't know why you would ruin it by eating 
so much." 
 
"So you do notice me a little Brent?" 
 
"Well of course I've noticed you Cindy. You live next door,and I've 
known you for years. I think you're a very attractive girl." 
 
"It's so nice to hear you say that Brent." Cindy gets up and starts 
over toward him. "You know, I've imagined this moment for so many 
years. I've had a crush on you since I was nine, ever since you moved 
here. I know you like Wendy more, but you do like me just a little 
now, don't you?" 
 
"Cindy, please sit down. I came over for dinner. If you keep this up, 
I'll have to leave. Which would be a shame because you've made such a 
good dinner for us." 
 
Cindy is still standing halfway between her chair and Brent's. "You're 
right, of course. I'll go back to my dinner. I'm hungry too." She 
sits down and they both eat in silence, Cindy eating three pieces of 
chicken and potato, for each that Brent eats. 
 
"This has been quite good, Cindy. But I must go back to my work. I'm 
at a very exciting stage in my paper. I'm about to explain how the 
inevitability of the civil war can be deduced from the state of American 
civil politics immediately after the War of 1812." 
 
"Oh don't go yet! What about dessert?" 
 
"Have you made dessert for us Cindy? You really shouldn't have." 
 
"I didn't really. But I do have ice cream." 
 
"Then it will keep well in the freezer. And we'll probably both be 
better off for not eating it." 
 
"I'm not fat you know, Brent." 
 
"I don't want to argue with you Cindy, but I'm not a blind man. I can 
see you're a bit chunky, these days, especially in your arms and legs. 
Oh why am I having this discussion with you? I'd better go." 
 
"No Brent! Not yet!" 
 
"You're getting very emotional Cindy. I know I shouldn't have made 
comments about your body. You're probably feeling very sensitive about 
it. But this is not a date, and I have work to do." 
 
"No. You're not going home. I want you to stay here tonight." 
 
"That's out of the question Cindy. I'm sorry to be rude, but I'm 
leaving now." 
 
"I'm not going to let you." 
 
"I don't understand this. Are you threatening me?" 
 
"Yes, in a way." 
 
Brent gets up to go and Cindy stands between him and the door. "Cindy, 
get out of my way." 
 
"I'm not budging." 
 
"This is silly, and very juvenile. I knew coming here would be a 
mistake, but I was trying to be polite. Good bye Cindy." 
 
Brent is standing next to Cindy, unsure whether to step around her or 
push her, when Cindy puts her arms around him. Mmmm. He does have a 
nice body , even though I can see that he is a total jerk. Wendy can 
have him, but not tonight! 
 
"This is completely unacceptable! Get your hands off me!" Brent pushes 
Cindy gently, but can't break her hold. "My, you're stronger than I 
thought. I was trying to be easy on you, but if you don't let go right 
now, I may have get tough on you." 
 
Cindy ignores him and moves her hands down to his butt and starts 
squeezing it. "You've got a pretty tight butt Brent. I really like 
that." 
 
"Stop that." 
 
Brent now pushes as hard as he can against Cindy, but she maintains her 
hold and continues to feel his backside and then down his leg. "I told 
you I wasn't fat Brent. Look how strong I am." She slips her arm 
under his knees and lifts him, cradling him in her arms. She starts 
walking toward the sofa. 
 
"This is impossible. I weigh over two hundred pounds." 
 
Cindy drops him on the sofa and stands over him. "Come on Brent. This 
won't be so bad for you. Wouldn't you like to make love to a sixteen 
year old virgin?" 
 
Brent shakes his head. "I can't. It wouldn't be fair to Wendy." 
 
"Well, you can tell her you didn't have any choice." 
 
"She would never understand. Why am I debating this with you?" He 
swings his legs off the couch and runs to escape, with Cindy chasing 
him from behind. They reach the door at the same time and Cindy puts 
her arm around his waist and pulls him onto the floor. 
 
"I got you! Hey, this is a lot easier than I thought." Sitting on his 
knees, she picks up his sweatshirt at the waist and tries to pull it 
over his head, but Brent won't cooperate. Shrugging, she pulls it 
apart and rips it in two from the waist to the neck. Cindy puts her 
hands against Brent's chest and starts to caress it. "I watched you 
work out this afternoon without your shirt on and wanted to lay my head 
against your chest. Will you let me?" Brent shakes his head. "I'm 
going to do it anyway." She puts her head down on his chest, but Brent 
pushes it away. "Oh Brent, please don't make it so hard." She takes 
one of his arms and pushes it away and holds it on the ground, then does 
the same with the other. For a minute, she rests her head against him. 
 
"This would be a lot more fun if you would cooperate." 
 
"You can forget about that Cindy. I am deeply offended." 
 
"Let's get undressed. Maybe that will help." She rips the rest of 
Brent's sweatshirt off his arms the same way, splitting into them 
pieces, then unbuttons the top of her dress and slips out of it while 
sitting on top of him. Brent looks up at her with amazement. "You see, 
I'm not fat at all Brent. It's all muscle, except for these." She 
shakes her breasts, which jut out from her chest, nipples erect, and 
then lays them down on Brent's face. "Don't you want to suck them?" 
Brent opens his mouth to say no, and Cindy moves up to stick her breast 
into his mouth. Brent closes his mouth around it. For a moment they 
are locked in this pose, and Cindy relaxes and moans softly. Suddenly 
Brent rolls over, flips Cindy off him and tries to get up. Cindy looks 
crushed, but calmly grabs his ankle and holds him in place. 
 
"No matter what I do, you still resist me." 
 
"It won't work. You can't force me to make love to you." 
 
"I can try. Look how far I've gotten." Brent looks down at his naked 
chest and folds his arms around it. 
 
"I'm not going to let you do it. I don't know how you've done this to 
yourself, but you've made yourself into a freak. I'm not a toy, and 
I'm not going to let you use me for your pleasure." Brent closed his 
eyes and concentrated and Cindy watched the bulge in his pants slowly 
disappear. "You see, its mind over matter, Cindy. And you've lost." 
 
Damn him and his stupid mind. I'll find some other way to get him back 
. 
 
"Just go. Get out of here Brent. I don't ever want to see you again." 
Cindy runs off to her room. Brent picks up the tattered pieces of his 
sweatshirt, and goes home. 
 
Lying on her bed, Cindy thinks. 
 
What an asshole. I can't believe I thought I wanted to make love to 
him. But he had no right to treat me like that, to call me a freak. 
All he ever does is compare me to that Wendy. What a stuck up bitch. 
Just because she's rich and looks like a model. "Brent and she make 
such a nice couple." I hate them! And I am not a freak. I'm just as 
good as they are. Well if that's what Brent wants, he can have her. 
 
Wait a minute. Maybe he can't. Darla said this was some kind of 
experiment. What if I made Wendy look like me? What would Brent say 
then? Oh that would be so great! I could get both of them back at the 
same time! Where was that phone number Darla gave me if something went 
wrong? 
 
"Hello?" 
 
"Is this Ellen?" 
 
"Yes. Who is this?" 
 
"It's Cindy, Cindy Rogers, Darla's friend?" 
 
"Oh, Cindy. Hi. Is everything alright? Is the pill working?" 
 
"Yeah. It's fine." 
 
"You don't sound very happy." 
 
"Well, no, I'm not. Not right now. This guy I like. Well, he just 
called me a freak. I don't feel like a freak, although I'm getting 
pretty big. But he keeps comparing me to his girlfriend. She's got this 
perfect figure, you know. Really disgusting. She's a model, you know 
her, Wendy Williams?" 
 
"I think so. Homecoming queen. Miss Denver Chevy Dealer. Made those 
commercials when her dad was running for governor. Society girl, 
right?" 
 
"That's her." 
 
"I think she's disgusting too Cindy. But why are you calling me?" 
 
"I want to get back at them, and you can help me." 
 
"I don't know if I want to get involved in this. You're free to do 
what you want. Just don't break any laws or anything. But what do you 
want me to do? 
 
"Darla told me that your group has this special pill that will work 
really fast? I want to give it to Wendy, so she'll look like me. That 
would get both of them. Brent's girlfriend would look just like me, 
and she would never get another modeling job. What do you think?" 
 
"Mmmph! Big Bertha. That's a funny idea. I don't know. Give it to 
her without her consent? I don't think so." Ellen paused. "It is 
something we've talked about, although we were thinking of someone 
else. Let me talk to Erica. I'll call you back tomorrow." 
 
"Ok. Thanks." 
 
I never thought she'd say yes. But all of a sudden it sounded like she 
would. That would be so cool! 
 
Cindy lay on her bed and looked at the ceiling, absentmindedly flexing 
her biceps. 
 
It still was kind of fun, pushing Brent around. 
 
 
"Cindy?" 
 
"Oh, hi Ellen! Are you going to do it?" 
 
"Well, yes. We talked about it, and although it's a bit off the plan, 
it sounds like fun. We'll give you two pills, but hold on to one for 
now. I'm afraid it won't be as effective as that ones you've been 
taking for weeks, but it'll have a noticeable effect pretty quickly. One 
thing. Have you thought about how you're going to get her to take 
them?" 
 
"Sure. I thought about all night. She's a real health nut. Eats only 
natural food and all that. I'll just make them something with bean 
sprouts and stuff and mix it in. I'll go over and apologize and 
everything, and give them a little present. Brent won't eat it. He 
hates that stuff. But Wendy will, I think. But what if Brent eats 
some?" 
 
"Oh don't worry about that. It won't do anything for him. We haven't 
made anything that would do anything for men!" 
 
"Good. I don't want him to go back to being stronger than me." 
 
"I'll come by later and drop off the pills. Is everything else ok?" 
 
"Yeah. I like being strong. But it doesn't always get you what you 
want." 
 
"I guess nothing does Cindy. Well, I hope this works out the way you 
want it to. Just let us know what happens." 
 
New Woman pt 3 
 
 
 It's early morning. Brent has showered and is standing in front 
 of the mirror, admiring himself. As Wendy enters groggily, he 
flexes his muscles and looks back at Wendy, who stares, glassy-eyed, 
straight ahead. Brent frowns, then takes her hand. pulls her towardhim 
and places it on his bicep. He flexes again a few times, with Wendy's 
hand remaining limply on top. Dissatisfied, Brent puts his hand on top 
of hers. 
 
 "Don't you want to feel how hard they're getting?" 
 
 "It's awfully early for that Brent. But they're very nice." 
 "Nice?" 
 
 "It doesn't really interest me. You know I work with models every 
 day." Brent scowls. "I guess it means more to me. I was always 
 the scholarly one. Tall, blond, thin and smart, but never strong. 
These past two years I've worked so hard to build myself up." 
 "I know you have, dear. I think it's great that you feel better 
 about yourself." 
 "I can't believe you're so indifferent! I thought you'd like me 
 to have a better body." He stands behind her and lifts her onto 
his shoulders, while Wendy starts to laugh. "See, you do like it, a 
little." (p88 of 166) 
 "Oh, I don't mind. It is better than before. I think I was as 
 strong as you when we first met. And I was a better wrestler, 
fighting my brothers all the time. You didn't like that one bit." Brent 
starts to scowl again. "Oh but honey, don't be mad. Look at my skinny 
arms. You're much stronger than I am now. Come, put me down so I can 
get ready. Hmm. Men are so funny. I think you're prouder of your 
biceps these days than of your IQ." 
 
 
 "Oh hello little Cindy. How are you today?" 
 
 "Uh, pretty good. Is Brent here?" 
 
 "Why no. He went out to do some research. Is there something I 
 can do for you?" 
 "Uh, I guess so. He and I had a fight a couple of days ago. I 
 felt bad. So I made this for him and you, you know, to make up. 
It's really healthy. Lots of vegetables and things." 
 "It looks lovely darling. It's just the kind of thing I like. 
 Brent is more of a meat and potatoes kind of man, but 
he'llappreciate the thought I'm sure. He said you were a wonderful 
little cook." 
 
 "He did? Uh, he didn't tell you about our fight, did he?" "I'm 
 sure that's just between the two of you. Don't you worry about 
 it. I'm sure he's forgiven you already. Now why don't you just 
run home now and finish your homework. Aren't your exams coming up 
dear?" 
 
 "Yeah, I guess so." 
 
 "Well be sure to work hard. And Cindy dear, if I were you I would 
 cook more dishes like this. You do look a little heavy to me. It 
won't help you with the fellas, you know." 
 "Ok, I will. Thanks Wendy. Uh, bye." 
 
 She's such a shy, poorly dressed little thing, and she has such an 
 obvious crush on Brent. Well, this girl next door is certainly no 
threat to me! She does seem to be a good cook. Well, maybe she can 
turn that to advantage some day when she sets her eyes on a man moreher 
station. If she doesn't eat all her profit! Tee-hee! Oh Wendy, you 
shouldn't think such things. It really isn't very nice. I skipped 
lunch to go to that shoot this morning. Maybe I'll just have some of 
this cassarole now. Brent won't mind, if he even notices. Mmmm! It's 
very good. What's that flavor? Oh,I'm not so good with cooking. She 
has a real talent. I'll have a little more. It's so good it's making 
me hungrier. Maybe I''ll save just a little bit for Brent, not that 
he'll want it anyway. He calls what I eat bird food! 'Bird food for 
bird brains!' Sometimes he isn't very nice to me. I may not have a 
degree from Harvard, but I hold up my end. I earn more than he'll ever 
do, with his teaching job. And what's wrong with modeling? I meet 
people, travel, wear beautiful closthes. And all I have to do is watch 
what I eat and work out. Not a bad life for ten years. When I'm too 
old I'll have our children, and they'll be smart and beautiful.. There! 
I like that plan! But I better stop eating this cassarole! Oh, why not 
finish it. It looks so healthy. Brent won't want it. He can make some 
of that steak I bought. Mmm! It's done. And I'm still hungry. Maybe 
I should just get up for awhile and walk around.. Yes. Get out of the 
kitchen, that's what I'll do. That will help a lot! I'll go downstairs 
and work out a little. That always kills myappetite for a couple of 
hours. I could use a little exercise. Missed my noon class for that 
shoot. Gosh, still hungry. Better take some cheese down with me; I can 
munch a litlle bit, right? Ok, turn the lights on, put down the pad, 
find the weights, pop in the video, ready? No, wait, take a bite. 
There! Gee, I feel pretty good. These weights feel light. Look at me 
go. One, two, three, four. I'm rolling! Hey, I'm really making 
progress! Wish I had a mirror down here. Ok, put the weights down. 
Sit ups! Ugh. One, two, three, there I go. Keep that tummy flat. 
Looking good. Oh, there's the door. 
 
 "Hi, honey, I'm down here, doing my tape." 
 
 "What were you eating? You really should have waited for me." 
 "I"m sorry honey. I was really hungry." 
 
 "You know I don't like to eat alone." 
 
 "That's ok. I'll come up and sit with you." (p92 of 166) 
 Did you get anything ready for me?" 
 
 "No, but I'll put up your steak. That little girl next door 
 brought over a cassarole and I finished it, but would you believe, 
I'm still hungry. Maybe I'll have something too." Wendy comes 
upstairs, perspiring mildly. "Should I shower first, or do you want to 
eat now?" 
 "Take your shower later. I'm ready to eat." 
 
 Wendy pulls out one steak, pauses, then takes out another. "I 
 think I'll have one too. They look good." 
 
 "You never eat meat." 
 
 "I know. It always looks kind of disgusting to me, but tonight, I 
 don't know. I just feel like it. You know, I think I need to get 
to heavier weights. I'm really doing well with that new tape." 
 
 Brent is reading the newspaper. "What did you say about losing 
 weight? You look fine." (p93 of 166) 
 "You're not paying attention," Wendy says in a sing song voice. 
 "I said I'm getting the heavier weights. The ones downstairs are 
too easy." 
 
 "Oh, that's great. Hey, don't do too much of that stuff. You 
 should see what's happened to Cindy next door. Ugh. She's gotten 
all muscular. I don't know what she's been doing. Just don't do it to 
yourself." 
 
 "She looked kind of chunky to me." 
 
 "It's unnatural, that's what it is. She -- oh never mind. Why 
 did she bring over that food for you?" 
 
 "Oh, it was for us. She said it was to apologize. Did you two 
 have some kind of fight or something." 
 
 "I don't want to talk about it, but she surely was right to 
 apologize. What did she bring?" 
 "Some kind of vegetable thing." Wendy walks around behind Brent 
and starts massaging his neck. "You wouldn't have liked it. You know 
what you say about bird food. It had a lot of sprouts and brocolli and 
all kinds of lettuce and -- 
 
 Brent turns and slaps her hands. "Ouch! What are you doing to 
 me, trying to break my neck?" 
 
 "Why, what's the matter, honey, I was just giving you your 
 massage, the way you always like it. I must have gotten 
distracted, thinking about that cassarole. I'm sorry. I'll just check 
on the steak, ok?" 
 
 "Geez, Wendy, you've never done that before. You're not angry 
 that I went over to Cindy's for dinner, are you?" 
 
 "I didn't even know you went over there, Brent. Why would you do 
 a thing like that?" 
 "Oh, I thought you knew. Uh, what did she tell you about our 
 fight." Wendy looks at Brent a little suspiciously. "Oh, not 
 much. Is there something you want to tell me, honey pie?" 
 "No, no. There's nothing to tell. Well, I was out in the yard 
 working out Saturday, when you were out of town. She said she had 
a lot of extra food and asked me to come over and share some. I was 
tired of hamburgers and all so I did. It just got a little strange. You 
know how she has that crush on me." 
 
 "You know that all too well, Brent. You should never have gone 
 over there. You know she only invited you over so she could flirt 
with you. I imagine you encourage her, just to get her attention." 
 
 "Oh, come on, Wendy. Don't be dumb. I would never do that." 
 "Well why ever would you go to a dinner at her house, all alone, 
 on a Saturday night? No wonder she gets ideas. What must she think 
of me if you go over there on a date to eat!" 
 "It was not a date. It -- Hey! The steak is burning! Damn! 
 Both are burnt. You know I like them rare. Now who's going to 
eat them?" 
 
 "Oh, I will. You got me all distracted talking about your night 
(p96 of 166) 
 with that little girl. Hey, I'm too hungry to stand here and cook 
something else. You can do it. I'm going to eat these steaks." 
 
 "Wendy! Are you really going to eat all that? This isn't like 
 you." Wendy has piled the meat on a plate and is eating 
 furiously. "You know, this isn't so bad. A little dry, but pretty 
tasty. It really feels good to eat." 
 "Wendy, you're not hiding something from me, are you? You're not 
 pregnant or anything?" 
 
 "Pregnant, are you kidding? Not yet. I've got five more years of 
 modeling in me. I'm not going to ruin it by getting pregnant too 
early. And you haven't married me yet, remember? 
 "I know. You're just acting a little funny, and you look 
 different. I don't know. A little busty or something. I was just 
wondering." 
 
 Wendy looks down at her chest and frowns. "I don't know what 
 you're talking about Brent. Excuse me a moment." She walks 
upstairs quickly and takes off her exercise suit top and bra, which 
hasleft red marks below her breasts and on her back. That's funny. This 
is an old one. I'm sure it's the right size. In the meantime, what can 
I wear? I know, that orange sweater Brent bought me for Christmas, It's 
a little big. Maybe he won't notice I'm not wearing a bra. I may as 
well shower first. 
 
 Downstairs, Brent hears the shower start and decides to make his 
 own dinner, a bowl of cereal and a bag of cookies. She's so touchy 
about her figure. I was just trying to be helpful. She's eating like a 
pig tonight! Well, she'll be in a better mood when she comes down. 
 An hour later, Wendy enters the room, a bit hesitantly. Brent 
 looks up and, noticing the sweater, smiles a bit. "I knew I liked 
that sweater when I picked it up. See. I told you it fits fine. You 
just didn't want to admit I could buy something for you that was right." 
 "You have lovely taste Brent. I'm sorry I was so emotional. You 
 know how important it is for me to keep my figure. It pays the 
bills, right?" (p98 of 166) 
 Brent grimaces. "There you go. Bringing that old thing up 
 again. If it's money you want -- 
 
 "No, no, I'm sorry I said it. I was just trying to explain -- 
 Brent stands up. "I know, I know. I should know better than to 
 make comments about your figure. It's beautiful. You're 
beautiful. You know that. Hey, where are you going?" 
 "I'm hungry again." 
 
 "Again? How many dinners are you going to eat tonight?" Wendy 
 bursts into tears. "I don't know! Do you think I want to keep 
eating? I've been dying of starvation for an hour and I just can't wait 
anymore. I have to eat, ok?" 
 Brent walks over and puts his arms around her. "Don't get upset 
 Wendy. Maybe you need to talk about something. Are you still mad 
about my dinner with Cindy? Is that what's making you eat so much?" 
 
 "Stop talking about my eating! And why should I be mad about that 
 dinner? Something happened, didn't it? And you're trying to keep 
it from me!" (p99 of 166) 
 "Please, Wendy. I don't want to talk about it. It's really 
 embarrassing." Wendy looks at him, eyes glaring. "If you must 
know, that 'little girl' has somehow developed some enormous muscles. 
She overpowered me during dinner and practically raped me. I barely got 
out of there before anything happened." 
 
 Wendy looks at him in disgust. "Just get your hands off me, 
 buster. You expect me to believe that? She's just a teenage girl, 
a little overweight maybe. And you, with your 'hard won' physique 
couldn't defend yourself. You must think I'm really dumb." She walks 
firmly into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. Staring at the 
shelves, she pulls out a tuna cassarole, takes a spoon and starts eating 
it methodically. 
 
 "What are you doing Wendy? I don't understand it." 
 
 "Well I don't understand anything. Not since I came home today." 
 She bursts into tears, but keeps eating the cassarole as the tears 
roll down her cheeks. " I just keep eating and eating. I don't know 
where it's all going. I just can't stop. And you tell me this crazy 
(p100 of 166) story about that girl? What is going on here, Brent? Am 
I crazy?" Wendy looks down at the now empty dish. "That was supposed to 
last me a week! What am I going to look like tomorrow?" 
 "Wendy. Just forget about what I said. Remember, Cindy said it 
 was a fight." 
 Wendy looks up at Brent and sighs. "I trust you Brent. I just 
 don't understand." She stands up. "I'm feeling a bit better now. 
Let's watch some TV, ok? I can lie down on the sofa." She looks down 
at her distended stomach and almost starts crying again but checks 
herself. "Just don't say anything about my body, alright? I don't want 
to think or talk about anything else today." 
 
 Brent looks at her dubiously, but nods. "If that's what you 
 want. But it seems to me, you need a little discipline. You're 
eating like a horse." 
 
 Wendy turns on a TV movie about incest and quickly becomes 
 engrossed in it. Brent, meanwhile is restless and starts fidgeting 
on the couch. (p101 of 166) 
 "If you don't like the movie, Brent, you don't have to watch it 
 with me." "It's just that I have a lot of work to do." 
 
 "Fine. Fine. Go do your work. I'll see you later." Looking 
 relieved, Brent goes to his office, turns on classical music to 
drown out the television and starts to work on his paper, leaving Wendy 
to watch the movie alone. 
 What an awful night. I feel better now, I just hope I didn't eat 
 my way out of a job. My tummy's not looking too bad. Maybe I just 
imagined it. I think I've seen this movie before. Oh yeah. I hated 
this part, I'm glad they don't show the rape, but I can still imagine 
it. Yuck! Oh, good, a commercial. Hey! I know that girl. I can't 
believe she got that part; she's not so great looking. But she does 
have good legs, better than my skinny ones. They'd never pick me to do 
a panty hose job. But my skin is better. I'm getting warm, better 
throw this blanket off. Oh no! I'm getting hungry again. This is so 
weird,but I don't care. Tonight I can have what I want. Better be 
quiet. Don't want Brent making any more remarks. That turkey I made 
looks good. I could just keep eating! Funny, this sweater felt tight 
just now when I reached down. Stop thinking about it! I'm just going - 
- press space for next page -- (p102 of 166) to sit and eat, quietly. 
I don't know where I'm putting it all. I think I'm going to finish 
this whole turkey, and I don't even feel full. I thought I'd throw up 
by now, but actually, I'm feeling pretty good, kind of sexy. I think 
I'll see what Brent is up to. I bet I can persuade him to take a 
break. 
 
 "Hi honey, how's your work coming?" 
 
 Damn! Just as I was getting something done. Gee, she looks 
 funny! "Oh, fine. I'm not as far along as I would like to be. 
 Is the movie over?" 
 "No. I'd seen it before. Do you want to take a break?" Wendy 
 glides over, sits on Brent's lap and leans against his chest. "I 
think you've done enough." 
 She feels heavy, but I better keep my mouth shut about that. 
 "Wendy, you know I have to finish this paper this week. I'm 
 really far behind." 
 "But I don't want you to work now. You said I looked good in your 
 new sweater. I bet you like what's underneath even more." Wendy 
puts her arms around Brent's shoulders to pull herself closer, but 
endsup leaning backwards and losing her balance. They fall to the 
floor. 
 "Look what you've done. Are you allright?" 
 
 "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted 
 you close. This is nice." Wendy starts caressing Brent's back and 
wraps her legs around his. 
 "Hey, c'mon Wendy. I was in the middle of something." "Aww Brent, 
 I'm so-o-o hot. Can't you at least take a little break?" She 
takes his hand and slips it under her sweater. "See, I'm not wearing 
anything under it. You know you like to play with them." 
 
 Brent starts touching her, in a slightly distracted manner. With 
 all that crap she ate, I can't believe she's not groaning now. I 
 can feel the bulge in her stomach. 
 
 Brent starts pulling Wendy's sweater off over her head and she 
 smiles, closing her eyes in anticipation. "Wendy! Look at you!" 
 
 "What is it? What's wrong?" Wendy looks down at her naked 
 torso. Her large breasts stand erect. Her formerly flat stomachis 
hangs over her pants. 
 "Oh my god! I look awful!" 
 
 "It's all that stuff you're eating." 
 
 "But I'm eating really healthy things. That cassarole was all 
 veggies." "What about that turkey? And the stuffing? I saw you 
 eating in there." "What are you doing, spying on me? I was 
 hungry." 
 
 "Well, you'd better stop. You're going to eat yourself out of a 
 job if you keep it up." 
 "But I can't help it. I'm still hungry." 
 
 "That's impossible. " 
 
 "I don't care. I'm dying for something to eat. Take me out for a 
 pizza, ok?" 
 "A pizza? Now?" He looks at his desk. "Well, I'm not going to 
 get anything done tonight. Are you sure? You've been eating 
allnight." 
 
 "I know. But I have to eat something. Let's just go, ok?." They 
 both put on winter coats and leave. 
 
 
 
 An hour and a half later, Brent and Wendy walk through the door. 
 "I still can't believe what you ate. You must have set some kind 
 of record there. Everybody was staring at us. This is just not 
like you. I think we should call a doctor." 
 "You think so? I don't know. I feel a lot better now. This has 
 been the strangest night. And that pizza place was so cold. I'm 
sure that was the only thing keeping me warm. I'm glad I had your 
sweater on under this jacket." She takes it off. "Brr! I'm still 
cold. I'm wearing this to bed." 
 
 "Not if I can help it. Let's go up now." 
 
 They walk up together, arm in arm. Brent gets undressed, (p106 of 
166) 
 deliberately. Wendy kicks her shoes off and dives under the covers 
fully clothed. 
 
 "Come on Wendy. Take those off." 
 
 "Try and make me, Brent." 
 
 "Gladly." Wendy folds her arms around her and grips her blue 
 jeans playfully, as Brent climbs into bed. He lifts her arms and 
pulls off her sweater. 
 "Wendy, look at you now! I knew you should have stopped eating. 
 This is unbelievable." Wendy looks with dismay at the pot belly 
drooping from her stomach onto the sheets. 
 "And my arms! Look at that saggy flesh. There's rolls of fat 
 everywhere! It's so gross! How could it happen so fast?" 
 
 "I don't know, Wendy, but it can't just be from tonight. Why are 
 you eating like this?" 
 "Because I'm hungry. And just talking about it is making me 
 hungry again." She rolls out of bed and puts on her robe, 
pausesbriefly at the mirror to look at herself again, and runs crying 
out of the room and down to the kitchen. 
 
 Brent sits up, puzzled, then lies down and goes to sleep. Hours 
 later, Wendy joins him. 
 Brent is the first up the next morning and finds he has rolled 
 over to Wendy's side of the bed. His turning toward the clock 
wakes her as well. 
 
 "Why are you hitting me? It's so early." 
 
 "Sorry. I ended up next to you. Probably all that pizza weighing 
 down your side of the bed." 
 
 "It's not funny. I feel like a blimp." She turns toward him and 
 Brent stares at her. "What is it? Why are you looking at me like 
that?" 
 
 "It's just -- your face, Wendy. I almost didn't recognize -- I 
 mean, your cheeks, your chin -- Wendy turns to get out of bed. 
"I feel so heavy." She stands up 
 and looks down at the mounds of fat on her arms and legs, and, most 
of all, the rings of flesh around her stomach. "I'm ruined. I can't go 
out like this!" She bursts into tears. 
 "I told you to stop eating." 
 
 "You're no help! This is something bizarre. No one gets fat like 
 this overnight." 
 "Well, whoever heard of eating four pizzas in one sitting? And 
 maybe if you exercised more --" 
 
 Wendy is trying to put on her robe, but it splits as she pushes 
 her arms through. Instead, she pulls out Brent's, wraps it around 
herself and starts for the door. "I can't listen to you and your stupid 
suggestions!" 
 
 "Where are you going?" 
 
 "I'm going for breakfast. I'm starving!" 
 "I can't believe it. After last night?" 
 
 "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to hear it." She 
 slams the door and goes to the kitchen, where she meets a nearly 
empty pantry and refrigerator, the result of last night's late gorging. 
Shaking her head, she takes a ten pound bag of flour and starts mixing 
batter for pancakes. Brent creeps downstairs and stares as Wendy, too 
hungry to wait, upends the bowl and starts to drink it raw. 
 
 Brent pushes her away from the bowl. "You're acting like a crazy 
 woman, Wendy. You have to stop. Something must be bothering you 
for you to be acting like this." 
 "The only things bothering me are you and always being hungry! 
 Now let me eat!" 
 Brent tries to keep her away from her food, but she's too heavy 
 for him to push her, so he holds onto her wrist. "Then see a 
doctor. This just isn't normal." 
 Batter sticking to her double chin, Wendy starts crying again. 
(p110 of 166) 
 "That's the first thing you've said that makes any sense to me. 
Let's go now." 
 
 "Uh, I can't go right now. I have a class in an hour. What if we 
 make an appointment --" 
 "You're just no use. I have to do something about this right 
 away, before I weigh five hundred pounds!" She tries to break 
away, but can't. 
 
 "I think it is a problem you have with immediate gratification 
 that's part of the cause of this situation. Now, if you could just 
slow down and think things through, you wouldn't be in this mess." 
 
 "You're such a know-it-all. I can't listen to this. Either help 
 me or let me go!" She tries to slap him with her free hand, but 
Brent catches her other arm and holds it in place. 
 "You had a lot of weight behind that one, but you're going to have 
 to work a lot harder on your exercises if you want to hurt me, not 
to mention get rid of that flab. Ok, have it your own way. Eat if 
you're hungry. But I've got to go now. I'll see you later." 
 
 "Is this Ellen?" 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 "Cindy. Cindy Rogers." 
 
 "Oh, hello Cindy. How are you? 
 
 "There's something wrong with those pills you gave me. They're 
 just making Wendy really fat. I saw her going in and out of the 
house today. She started out looking like Rosanne Barr, and by the end 
of the day she looked like a circus freak. She must weigh over three 
hundred pounds. She's got as much fat as I have muscle." 
 
 "That's fine, Cindy. That's the way that pill is supposed to 
 work. They make the woman very hungry for about a day and produce 
an enzyme to store energy as fat. It will work just as I told you, 
probably by tonight." 
 "Oh. Too bad. I kind of like seeing her so fat. She acts so 
 stuck up and superior to me all the time." 
 
 "Really? Oh, did you say pills? 
 
 "Yeah, you gave me two, remember? 
 
 "Sure, but you were only supposed to -- 
 
 "You said it wouldn't make her that big, and I wanted -- "Shit! 
 Now I'm in for it! Well, let me know what happens Cindy. Bye" 
 
 
New Woman pt 4 
 
 
It's evening. Brent comes home to see Wendy at the table, wrapped in a 
plastic tent, and surrounded by the debris of a day of eating. The 
table and floor are littered with crumbs, spaghetti sauce, grease and 
drippings. An untouched bowl of salad sits opposite her. Two garbage 
bags filled with styrofoam meat packages stand in the middle of the 
kitchen, and a trail of plastic wrappings for various unidentifiable 
brands of foods stretches from the front door to Wendy's seat. Wendy 
would be unrecognizable outside of her home, her face lost in a pool of 
fat. 
 
"I don't believe this. What are you doing?" 
 
"I've been eating, smarty pants. What do you think I've been doing?" 
 
"You look " 
 
"Gross, disgusting. Go on, you can say it. But I beat you to it. I 
figured it out. Would you believe I've eaten almost three hundred 
pounds of food in twenty-four hours, and how much shit do you think 
I've shat? Zippo. So, where does it go?" She stands up, unsteadily. 
"I'm so heavy I can hardly walk. Yeah, look at me. I'm obese, like 
those women you see in the supermarket, but would never invite into 
your home. Me, Windy Williams, Most Promising Rocky Mountain Model. 
Miss Denver Chevy Dealer. Maybe I should be Miss Mack Truck, but 
they'd never get me in the cab. How did I do this to myself?" 
 
"Physically, I don't understand how it happened. You'd think with all 
this eating you would be, you know, throwing up." 
 
"Oh I've tried, but I eat and it's like it's locked inside of me. 
Nothing comes up, no matter how sick I try to make myself." 
 
"I don't know what to say. You seem pretty calm about it." 
 
Wendy starts crying. "That's how little you know. I'm, I'm ruined. 
I'm going to kill myself. I can't even bear to walk past a mirror. 
This is just hideous and unfair, and I don't even know what happened. 
One morning I'm my beautiful self, and now I'm just a mass of fat! I 
can't even fit my rear end on any of these chairs, and I think I broke 
two of them earlier. What am I going to do?" 
 
"Wendy, there's just one answer. Hard work. And I'll help you, really 
. First, let's clear away all this stuff." He starts clearing the 
table. 
 
"No! Leave it there. I may still need it." 
 
She starts to get up, but Brent pushes her back into the chair. "Now 
you just sit and listen to me. We have to get you back on track. I'm 
going to throw all this out, and then we're going downstairs and work 
up an exercise routine for you. I know more than a little about this, 
you know. It won't be easy, but it's just a matter of time before 
you're fit again. I'm sure of it. Look what it did for me." Brent 
demonstrates by flexing his muscles. 
 
Wendy grabs a banana on the table and starts to peel it, but Brent puts 
his hand on her wrist to stop her. "Let go, Brent, you're hurting me, 
and don't show off your body to me. I just need to eat my banana. 
Then we can talk." 
 
"Wendy, you've got to stop eating. Now! I will help you, but you have 
to let me." 
 
"I don't want your help, not if you're going to be mean to me." 
 
Brent takes her hand. "Come on, let's go downstairs and get started, 
right away." 
 
"It'll never work. It'll take forever, and you're still hurting me. 
Let go. I hate when you tell me what to do." 
 
"Ok Wendy, I've had it. If won't cooperate I'm just leaving, and I 
won't come back. I can't accept this. It's, it's just too bizzarre. 
It's beastly. Now, I think I'm being very tolerant, but look at 
yourself. If I leave, what will you do then, except go back to your 
family? And do you want them to see you like this?" 
 
"You're such a bully, Brent. You always have been. I knew you only 
loved me for my looks." 
 
"Well, to be honest Wendy, that's part of it, but admit it, you're the 
same way. I couldn't get you to be seen with me until I got myself in 
shape. Let's face it. Being fit is part of our relationship. I'm not 
going to run around with a lump of fat unless you make a commitment, 
here and now, to do something about it." 
 
"Oh you're so superior now. It's my body that supports you, just 
remember." 
 
"Not anymore. Unless you plan to join the circus." 
 
"That's so mean." 
 
"I admit I am being tough, but it's what you need. Now, are you going 
to get to work , or shall I walk?" 
 
Wendy looks down at her body, glares at Brent and decides to comply. 
She waddles downstairs. Brent, following behind her, makes a feeble 
attempt to smother a laugh as he watches her flesh jiggle with each 
step. Wendy turns, scowls at him, and continues slowly into the 
exercise room. 
 
"Now, the exercise will help you three ways Wendy. First, it will tone 
your muscles. I know you still have some underneath there. Second, it 
will increase your metabolism. And last, it will help suppress your 
appetite." 
 
"Shut up. I know all that." 
 
"Fine. Here, try these leg lifts." Wendy sits down, puts the 
cushioned bar against the front of her calves and pushes. 
 
"I can't. It's too hard." 
 
"Oh. Sorry. The weights are all set for me. Of course you can't do 
these." He sighs. "I'll have to change everything for you. And I had 
it all arranged perfectly." 
 
"Well, maybe you shouldn't bother then. I don't want to interfere with 
your hobby. I just want to go back and eat." 
 
"It's not a hobby. Don't get snotty. Just because you've ruined your 
body doesn't mean I can't still be proud of mine. You know I've worked 
hard to get this strong. What is it now?" 
 
"I don't know. All of a sudden I feel all warm, and good. Just like 
that, my hunger's gone." 
 
"Well that's a relief. Now, are you going to do those leg lifts?" 
 
"I'm really warm, got to take this stupid tent off. I guess I should 
be embarrassed to have you look at me, you're so judgmental, but I 
don't care. At least I feel better. Like I had some kind of bug for 
the last day, you know, my head is clearing. This is so weird. So you 
think I should start with this one ? Ok. It doesn't look hard." She 
starts lifting the bar with her legs and does ten quick lifts. "How 
many am I supposed to do? I think you made it too easy. " 
 
Brent looks at her strangely. "Ten is fine. But I didn't change the 
weight yet. It's still onehundred twenty." 
 
"Ha! I'm stronger than you thought!" 
 
"You still look like a blimp." 
 
"Shut up. I don't have to listen to this." 
 
"Yes you do, Miss Mack Truck. Now try this. It will give your thighs 
a workout. I"ll lower the weight for you." 
 
Wendy pushes. "It's very easy. I thought this was going to be hard." 
 
"I guess your legs are stronger than I thought. I'll put it back 
where it was. See if you can do ten. I do fifteen." 
 
Wendy quickly does ten, then ten more. "I don't know Brent. Are you 
sure you can only do fifteen?" 
 
"I didn't say I can only do fifteen. I said that's all I do." 
 
"Oh. Sorry. I'm sure you know what you're doing. Ok. What's next? 
Can I work on my arms too?" 
 
"Yes. Try this one. It will be good for your triceps." 
 
"Ok. I'm really getting into this now Brent. Make it hard." Brent 
adjusts the weights, and Wendy starts again. "This is too easy. 
You're trying to make me feel good, Brent, and I appreciate it. Really. 
But I really need to work. If you're not going to make it challenging, 
I'll do it." Wendy reaches in and increases the weight from thirty 
pounds to one hundred thirty." 
 
"Wendy! That's too much " As he's warning her, she pushes the bar up 
and repeats it twenty times. Brent shakes his head. "I don't 
understand, unless it's all that weight you've put on. Maybe you're 
leaning into it, not isolating your muscles properly. Try these arm 
curls. Not that you want to develop your biceps, but these will be good 
for your chest and stomach muscles too, and it's a lifting exercise. 
Now, don't use your back, just your arms and " 
 
"Like this?" Wendy lifts the bar easily. "Oh, you didn't fix the 
weight right again. It's too light." She reaches in and blindly 
increases the weight . 
 
"You're being impulsive. I'm sure that's too much. You can really 
hurt your back if you don't do this right. Let me spot you, so you 
don't bend at the waist." 
 
"Ok, but I haven't hurt myself yet. You're so careful. I'm a big girl 
, right? Now let's see." She grips the bar, straightens her back and 
lifts. "There, I did it!" 
 
"Wendy, you did an arm curl of two hundred fifty pounds!" 
 
Concentrating on her form, she does five more. "It isn't that hard. 
Actually, the first was kind of hard, but they're getting easier as I 
do them. Is that what I'm supposed to feel?" She does another fifteen, 
then stops. "The last five were too easy. Let me see how you do it, 
so I make sure I'm doing it right." 
 
"Wendy, I can't do that much. But look at your body. You don't look 
as fat." 
 
She looks down. "Hey, you're right. Maybe it's just because I stopped 
eating. Maybe it was just bloating my stomach and now it's getting 
digested. I tell you, I'm feeling a lot better." She tries the curl 
again. "Nope, this is definitely too easy. Hey, did you say you can't 
do this much? How could that be?" 
 
"Wendy, do that again, ok?" 
 
"Ok, but I want to make it harder." She adjusts the weight to three 
hundred fifty pounds and lifts. 
 
"Can you hold it? Good. Now look at your arms." 
 
"I've got muscles! Look at that! I can even see them under all this 
fat! I never had any muscles like that before!" 
 
"It's not only that. Your whole body is changing! Your stomach is 
half the size it was." 
 
Wendy looks down. "It's still gross, but you're right. It is a lot 
smaller. I just can't get over how good I feel now. I wonder how 
Hey, you didn't answer me. You really can't lift this much?" Brent 
doesn't answer, he looks down. "You're embarrassed. Ha! Well, you 
don't have to be. Like you said to me, nothing that a little hard work 
won't take care of, right? Hey, I gotta pee. Be right back." 
 
Wendy walks down the hall to the bathroom. Brent hears the door close, 
then tries the arm curl. He strains against it for a few moments, then 
gives up. After a long delay, the toilet flushes, the sink water runs, 
and finally, the door opens. "You're not gonna believe this Brent. Be 
prepared for a surprise." She returns, wearing one of Brent's exercise 
suits, which is stretched around her expanding body. Brent looks up 
in astonishment. She's nearly as tall as he is, more than six feet 
tall, but her shoulders are broader and her arms have muscles on them 
like boulders. 
 
"Well, this will certainly push my career in a different direction!" 
 
"What are you talking about? You look like Arnold Schwarzenegger! 
You'll never get another modeling job." 
 
"Oh, I don't know. I think I may be bigger than ol' Arnold, and I 
think look kind of striking. Wanna try pushing me around now?" Wendy 
crouches down like a karate fighter and kicks and jabs at her 
reflection in the mirror, then straightens up and cups her breasts in 
her hands. "You know, my breasts got a lot larger too, and they're not 
a bit droopy. I just know this look will sell something." 
 
"Sure, in the S&M magazines." 
 
"No way! Oh don't be such a kill joy! Hey, this is a lot better than 
what I looked like an hour ago, don't you think?" 
 
Brent looks doubtful. "I just this is like what Cindy maybe you can 
get them removed with surgery." 
 
Wendy turns around, shocked. "Are you crazy? They'd have to cut me up 
all over. That would be horrible! And what would that do to my 
beautiful skin? How could you even suggest such a thing?" 
 
Brent looks glum. "I was just trying to help. Hey, what's wrong?" 
 
Wendy is kneeling on the floor. "I just suddenly got dizzy. I think 
I'm still hungry. Can we go back to the kitchen?" 
 
"Are you kidding? You've eaten just about everything in the 
refrigerator." 
 
"What about the pantry? Don't we have a lot of stuff there?" 
 
"I don't know. Just a lot of canned food. Beans, tomatoes, fruit, 
soup. I think most of it is beans." 
 
"Well, I can eat that." 
 
She opens twelve cans of kidney beans in quick succession and drinks 
them down like water. Looking around, she does the same with three 
large cans of pureed tomatoes, topped off with a can of peaches. "When 
did we get these peaches? They're terrible." 
 
"We bought them for your mother. I thought she ate them all." 
 
"I wish she had." Do we have anything else?" 
 
"Just more peaches." 
 
"Give them to me." She takes the remaining cans of peaches and quickly 
downs them. She sighs and roots around the pantry. "What's are these 
three?" 
 
"It's a high calorie, high protein drink I bought when I started 
working out. It tastes awful." 
 
"Oh, I remember. You bought a whole case of it, right, down in the 
basement? Why would you ever do that? Well, here goes nothing." 
 
"You're not going to eat all of those, are you?" 
 
"Why? You're not going to eat them. It's the perfect thing for me." 
Between slurps, "It's really satisfying. I think I need the protein." 
She finishes the three cans. "I think I'm ok again. I hope that was 
the last binge. It's just awful to eat so much. Just look at my tummy 
again!" 
 
"You don't seem very concerned this time." 
 
"Well, no. I mean, with all that's happened tonight, I assume it will 
just go away." 
 
"Wendy, it doesn't just go away. Everything you eat tonight is getting 
turned into muscle. You going to get even bigger." 
 
"I know that. I meant it won't make me fat." 
 
"Oh, so that's all you care about." 
 
"What's wrong with you?" Wendy looks mischievous. "You're not jealous 
of me, are you?" She walks over next to Brent and puts her hands on 
his shoulders. Brent watches the muscles in her arm stretch his suit. 
 
"Of course not." 
 
"I don't know. I think it bothers you," Wendy says teasingly. "We were 
just talking about it yesterday morning, in the bathroom, when I was 
half-asleep. Remember? You wanted to show me how big you were 
getting?" Ha, look! Now I'm even taller than you." Brent grimaces. 
"Hey, I think this is really funny. I think I'm still growing." 
 
"This is just too much. When is it going to stop?" 
 
"Don't you want this tummy to go away again?" She pats it 
affectionately. "Well, you can relax. At least I don't feel hungry 
now. Come on, let's go up." Brent follows, slowly and a bit 
reluctantly, into the bedroom. When he gets there, Wendy is back in 
front of the mirror. "I hope you like large breasts Brent. I must be a 
50-DD by now. And I don't know where I'm going to find clothes to wear. 
They'll all have to be specially made for me." 
 
"How can you think about clothes now?" 
 
"Well I'm going to have to wear something. I'm just being practical. I 
can make a few things for myself tomorrow, but that won't do in the 
long run. I can't make the kinds of things I like to wear, especially 
when we go out." 
 
Brent stares at her in amazement. She's now several inches taller than 
he is, about six feet six inches, and her body has stretched his suit 
hopelessly out of shape. Her arms are thicker than his legs, and her 
legs are like tree trunks. Her stomach is rapidly shrinking, and 
ridges of muscular bulges are erupting on her shoulders, back and 
chest. Yet her figure is as feminine, if somewhat exaggerated, as ever. 
Two large, perfect breasts spring from her chest, and her torso tapers 
sharply from broad shoulders to her ever narrower waist, and then 
quickly out to her wide hips and even wider thighs. 
 
"I don't understand why you're so relaxed about this. Your body has 
totally changed twice in twenty four hours, and it could change again. 
Why aren't you upset?" 
 
"I was upset, at first. But I think I look pretty good. In fact, I 
look smashing, and I feel smashing. As long as this muscle doesn't 
turn into fat there's all kinds of things I can do with this look." 
She waits. "You're not saying anything." 
 
"I just don't know if I like it." 
 
Wendy stiffens. "You mean, you don't like the way I look now either?" 
 
"No, I don't." 
 
"You know, it's not like a hair cut. I don't think this is just going 
togrow out." 
 
"No, I suppose not." 
 
"And just what don't you like? It is my thunderous thighs? My massive 
bosom? My bulging biceps?" 
 
"To be honest 
 
"Yes, be honest." 
 
"As I was saying, you had this wonderful, airy look about you. Now, you 
seem so heavy, ponderous. And there's another thing, which is the 
whole relative position of the man and the woman. You know I am a very 
traditional person. Now when we first met, neither of us felt right 
about you're being more athletic than I. But I took responsibility for 
that, and I've worked hard these last two years to the point where I 
felt we had the proper balance. And everyone agrees that we were a 
most attractive couple. And here, in one evening, you have destroyed 
all of that." 
 
"I have? What have I done? This just happened, Brent. I didn't do 
anything." Brent shrugs. "You think I somehow did this on purpose? 
Well of all the I have no idea how this happened. It's a complete 
shock to me how and now your reaction is " She sits down on the bed 
and shakes her head. 
 
"Please Wendy. Try to understand. It's a shock to me." 
 
Wendy stands up and walks toward him. Now she towers over him, his 
headbarely reaching her breasts. Brent puts his arms out to stop her. 
 
"What's wrong Brent? Do I intimidate you looking like this?" 
 
"Well, no, I'm sure you don't mean me any harm." 
 
"Don't be so sure. This really makes me mad. Now, about your 
feelings. I never thought much about it before, but I used to be a real 
athlete, until you convinced me to slim down for the sake of my career. 
I was happy to do it, and it worked fine for modeling, but maybe you had 
another reason, which you never told me. Was it just so you could be 
stronger than me sooner? Did you want me to be weak? Did you enjoy 
pushing me around? You certainly seemed to enjoying it earlier this 
evening." 
 
"This is unfair, Wendy. Everything was working out perfectly until 
tonight. Why dredge up this kind of issue? And I was honestly 
concerned about what had happened to your body." 
 
"You liked flaunting your power over me, but now the tables are turned, 
aren't they?" 
 
"I think that is a very odd thing to say Wendy." 
 
She starts walking closer, brushing aside Brent's arms. "Is it? Well 
I don't know about that. I let you get stronger than me. I let you 
push me around, let you bully me with your mind and your body. It made 
me feel really small. But now I'm not small, am I? Putting her hand 
on his chest, she pushes him backwards a little, walks closer and 
pushes him again, and again, until his back is to the corner of the 
room. 
 
 "You're not making matters any better, you know. Pushing me around 
does not make me feel good about you're being stronger." 
 
"It doesn't?" She bumps him with her hip and he flies into the bed. 
"Hey, this is fun." With one hand, she lifts up the bed, and he 
tumbles against the wall. 
 
"Wendy, please." She walks toward him, and he backs into a corner. 
Feeling constricted, she pauses, takes a deep breath and tenses her 
body, bursting Brent's suit, then calmly steps out of it. 
 
"What are you going to do about it honey? I bet I'm over seven feet 
tall now." She pulls his arm and wraps her hand around his muscle. 
"Go on, you wanted to show me this morning. Now I want to see the 
result of all your hard work." Trembling slightly, Brent tenses his 
bicep against Wendy's hand. She squeezes quickly and Brent howls in 
pain. "Now just try it with mine, dear." She places his hand on her arm 
and slowly tightens it. Brent looks with dismay as it rises into a 
threatening mound, thicker than his waist. 
 
"My god! It's so big! And I can't even push it in. It's rock hard." 
 
"Oh really? Too bad. For you that is. And I still feel like I'm 
growing." She places her hands on her hips. "Look at my stomach now. 
Not a drop of exercise and suddenly it's flat as can be, and solid 
muscle. Hit me. I dare you. Let's see how strong you are. I give you a 
free shot." 
 
"I don't want to hurt you." 
 
"I don't think you can, but I'm willing to risk it." She moves closer. 
 
Cornered, Brent considers his options, then leans back and punches her 
twice in the abdomen. 
 
"Can't get through that wall of muscle, can you honey? But watch this. 
" She reaches back to fire a punch at him, but misses purposely and 
puts her hand through the plaster wall. "Good thing I didn't hit a 
pipe. We would have had a flood, wouldn't we? Slowly, she lowers her 
left hand toward his throat. Brent looks at her in terror. "Aren't 
you even going to try to stop me Brent?" He places both his hands on 
her left arm and tries keep it away from him, but it keeps moving at 
its own deliberate pace, oblivious to his efforts, until her hand rests 
against his adam's apple. "It would be so easy." 
 
"You don't really want to kill me, Wendy. It isn't like you." 
 
She laughs. "Of course not, silly. But I had you going, didn't I? Co 
me on, let's go to bed. Or are you going to start that thing again 
about not finding me attractive?" 
 
"Wendy, I 
 
Now standing seven and a half feet tall, she tucks her hand behind 
Brent's ass and picks him up effortlessly, so that his face is level 
with hers. Each of her arms is now as thick as Brent's body. He holds 
out his hand to push against her free arm, but on top of her bicep, now 
over forty inches around, it looks like the hand of a baby, and has 
just as little effect. He pushes against her chest, but can only press 
into her deep bosom. Wendy tightens her chest muscles and catches 
Brent's hand in her cleavage. "Oooh, I'm so sensitive there now. Come 
in and play!" Brent tried to withdraw his hand, but Wendy's pectoral 
muscles are stronger and slowly draw his arm and then shoulder into her 
bosom. She lets go with her hand and laughs as half of Brent's body is 
now immersed in , and supported by, her breasts. "Hey Brent, isn't 
this your ultimate fantasy, smothered by the most powerful breasts in 
the world!" 
 
"Wendy! Wendy! Please. I can't breathe!" 
 
"Hey, don't worry honey. I'm in control." She relaxes her hold and 
lets Brent fall to her feet. He looks up at her from the ground and 
gazes at her head almost reaching the eight foot ceiling. Wendy looks 
up too. "I'd better go downstairs. This ceiling is getting too low." 
She steps over Brent, then reaches back and pulls him up and tucks him 
under her arm, carrying the six foot two, two hundred pound man down the 
stairs like a doll. "Ah, this is better. I have another two feet of 
growing room, and it's closer to the pantry. Let's see. Why don't you 
bring up the rest of those protein drinks. I can have those." Brent 
goes to the basement, while Wendy eats the bulk foodstuffs in the 
cabinets. "Flour, rice, potatoes. Hey, six boxes of corn flakes! How 
did I miss those? Soup, mostly water. Look here, 'Protein Supplements 
for Muscle Development'! Bet it'll work for me. Popcorn? Nah, never 
could digest that. Dried peas? Sure. Oh thanks for those Brent." She 
punches through the tops of the cans with her forefinger and drinks 
twenty cans, one after the other. "You know, that's good stuff. No 
taste, but it's just what I need." 
 
Again, a small bulge in Wendy's stomach appears, but Brent doesn't 
mention it. He sits back and watches Wendy's growth spurt again. "I'm 
getting tired of bending over to look at you." She sits on the floor 
and laughs when she sees that with Brent standing, they are still eye-
to-eye, then, continuing to grow, she again towers over him, even in a 
sitting position. Suddenly she closes her eyes. 
 
"Are you alright, Wendy?" 
 
She's quiet for a moment. "Yes, I'm fine dear. I just felt a let down 
for a minute. I think that whatever was happening just stopped. 
You'll be happy to know that this is as tall as I'm going to get." 
 
"You sound disappointed. You're over ten feet tall." 
 
"I'd guess something like twelve or thirteen feet. Who knows what I 
weigh? Judging from what I've eaten, maybe seven hundred, eight 
hundred pounds . Hey, do you like these breasts?" She moves over to 
Brent and lifts one of the pillow-sized pools of flesh onto his back and 
laughs as he collapses under the weight. "Well, that's going to limit 
the foreplay I was planning. I'll have to put you on an exercise 
program. It'll tone your muscles. May even give you some more size." 
She laughs again and stretches out her arm for a classic bicep pose. 
"Hey Brent, want to sit on them and try to hold on?" She flexes and a 
mountain of muscle almost three feet tall erupts from her arm. "This is 
just unbelievable. I wonder how strong I am." She squeezes through the 
back door into the yard, where a junked 1955 Chevy sits on blocks. 
 
"What are you going to do, lift up the car?" 
 
"Lift it? That's a trick for a strong man. Watch this." Wendy stands 
by the driver's side door and extends one of her massive arms around 
the hood, the other around the trunk. Then, with a slight 
concentration of effort, she brings her arms together, crushing the car 
body, engine block and trunk into the interior. Unsatisfied with the 
uneven appearance of the car, she neatly folds the jagged edges inside 
and methodically compresses them into a cube four feet on each side. 
Then, with her fingers, she forces the metallic mass of material into a 
round shape, and rolling it around in her hand, smooths it into a globe. 
 
"Wanna catch?" She pretends to throw it to Brent, who ducks, then 
tosses it twenty feet in the air. The ground shakes when it lands and 
burrows four feet into the ground. Wendy reaches in, looks mildly 
upset to discover that the ball is too large for her to palm, and in 
pushes her hand underneath and lifts it out. She looks up and sees 
Cindy watching her from an upstairs window, next door. She walks over 
to the side of the yard and looks through the window. Cindy scurries to 
the back of the room. Wendy lifts up the window from the outside and 
quickly reaches in and grabs Wendy with her hand. Tilting her sideways, 
she carries her out and puts her down next to Brent. 
 
"So little girl. That was quite a nutritious meal you cooked up for me 
, wasn't it? Look how it's made me big and strong." Cindy swallows. 
"I can see you've been eating well yourself. What you weigh now, two-
fifty? You look pretty big next to Brent." 
 
"Please don't be angry with me Wendy. I didn't know this was going to 
happen. Honest." 
 
Wendy laughs and stretches, then reaches out and slaps Cindy across the 
face. Cindy flies across the yard, blood spurting from her nose. " I 
could kill you in a second. And if I hear of you bullying Brent, I 
will. Now, whatI want is more of whatever you put in my cassarole. I 
don't care how you get it. But you call your friends, or whoever wanted 
to experiment on me, and tell them that unless they want me to turn 
them in to the police for experimenting on minors, they'd better play 
along. And just remember. Don't touch Brent again. Understand?" Cindy 
nods. "Good." 
 
"Now, I have to make a few telephone calls. I'm sure my agent will be 
able to find some clothes for me, and a few jobs. You, Cindy, have 
some work to do. And Brent," she picks him up to eye level, "you'd 
bettter decide very soon if you're with the program, cause I don't think 
you want to be against me. Right?" Brent struggles to get free, but 
Wendy pins his arms at his sides with her thumb and forefinger. "On 
the other hand, maybe I don't care what you decide. It's a lot of fun 
to push you around this way Brent. I never thought of myself as the 
dominating type, but I'm really enjoying seeing you squirm so 
helplessly. Is this really the best you can do? Do I really have more 
power in my thumb than you have in yuur whole arm?" Wendy tightens her 
finger against Brent's wrist a little more. Brent grimaces. 
 
"Please Wendy, you're just..." 
 
"too strong, huh? Get used to it, Brent." 
 
 
"Ellen, she just slammed me across the yard with the back of her hand. 
And I can see her torturing Brent right now outside the house. It's 
horrible!" 
 
"You say she's taller than your second floor window?" 
 
"Yeah, and her arms, her forearms are as thick as my chest. And I'm 
pretty big now, you know." 
 
"Yes Cindy. How big is your chest?" 
 
"About forty-nine inches? What are you going to do Ellen? You're not 
saying enything." 
 
"I'm just getting it all down, Cindy. We'll have to talk it over at 
our meeting tonight. This certainly isn't what we had planned. Did 
you say she was going to talk to her agent and she's threatening us for 
experimenting on minors ? Oh boy! That means exposure for sure." 
 
"Are you going to give me the pills for her? I'm scared." 
 
"Cindy, we've got to be very careful. We don't want a whole army of 
Wendys, do we?" 
 
"So you're going to try to stop her? Turn her back into what she was?" 
 
"You'll have to leave that to us, Cindy. I don't know what we're going 
to do yet. Look, I'll call you as soon as we decide." 
 
 
"These numbers are way off the scale Ellen. I don't think Big Bertha 
is responsible for that. It must have been affected by something in 
the food it was cooked with." 
 
"Cindy has no idea what she put in it. She started with something her 
mother left her and added a few ingredientsherself." 
 
Sally glared. "Without Beth here, we have no one to analyze the 
chemistry for us. She did all that work!" 
 
Erica banged her hand on the table. "Calm down everone! There's no 
crisis here. Wendy's not going to kill anyone. And there's nothing in 
those pills that's illegal. I had that checked, remember? I don't 
think we should do anything. Let this Wendy stew for awhile. I"m sure 
we can figure out what happened to her and then we can defend outselves. 
In the meantime, let's work on an antidote." 
 
"Erica, none of us knows the first thing about making anything 
different. That was Beth's job." 
 
"Yes, and her papers show she was working on something to reverse the 
effects of our pill before she left. I'm sure one of you can finish 
the project. Get to work!" 
 
New Woman pt 5 
 
 
"Hey Tina, can I talk to you for a minute?" 
 
"What do you want with me, Claire?" 
 
"I have a question for you, in private." 
 
"I better not talk to you. Why should I?" 
 
"I bet someone told you to keep a secret. Darla, right? I know what's 
going on with you girls. You think I'm blind? You don't have to tell 
me anything. But I know something you don't, about Toni. And I bet 
you want to know." 
 
A look of panic entered Tina's face. She grabbed Claire's hand, too 
hard. 
 
"Ouch! Watch your strength girl!" 
 
"I'm sorry Claire. I didn't mean to. These pills are 
 
"They're making you stronger than you can control, aren't they? And it 
shows on you. You know Toni doesn't like your muscles, don't you?" 
 
"How do you know all this stuff? Nobody knows about those pills." 
 
"I make it my business to know what I want to know. Listen, I'll make 
it simple for you. I can help you if you help me. I can help you look 
good for Toni again, if you give me what I want." 
 
"You can? How?" 
 
"I'm not telling . . . yet! You give me all of the pills you have. I 
know you must have a lot left over, cause you stopped taking them, 
didn't you? I'll give you something back that'll make you look like you 
did before. Think about it." 
 
"I don't have to think. I'd do it in a second. But Darla and the 
girls would kill me. It's supposed to be a secret." 
 
"Well, obviously it isn't, because I know about it, right? Look. 
They're getting what they want, but are you?" 
 
"No," Tina said quietly. "I never wanted to be strong. I just want 
Toni." 
 
"So, it's obvious, to me at least. Are you going to help yourself, or 
help them? Come on, do it. Or are you going to let Janet move in on 
Toni. She's awfully pretty. Her Dad's got money too, I hear." 
 
"Shut up. You're making me crazy. Sure, you can have them. They're 
right here in my purse. I have fifty of them. I haven't taken any for 
two weeks." 
 
"Good. You just keep giving me your pills, whenever Darla hands them 
out. Now I have some for you. They won't work as quickly, but don't 
worry, by the end of the month you'll start losing that new muscle and 
go back to being the way you were before." 
 
"What are you going to do with them, Claire? Take them yourself? The 
girls will get suspicious you know." 
 
"Oh no. I'm just going to do some experiments." 
 
"Oh yeah. I heard you like science and that stuff. I never thought of 
that. What kind of experiments? On rats?" 
 
"Just some chemistry, that's all. Don't worry. No one will know." 
 
As Toni walked away, Claire smiled. It was so easy to get them. Now, 
if I can talk my way into a real laboratory, I can find out how these 
work. 
 
 
Claire sat across from Professor Bimmelgum. She wore her best clothes 
, which set set off her five foot five frame nicely. 
 
"Professor, my chemistry teacher told me you might be able to help me 
with my project. I need to use a spectrometer and some other 
equipment, you know. I'm supposed to find out what these pills are made 
of and how they work on the body." 
 
"Well, young girl. These are very sophisticated instruments, and I 
don't have time to help you learn how to use them." 
 
"Oh, sir. I already know how. I learned how at Cornell University 
last summer." 
 
"Cornell? Hmm. That's a fine school. Well, I will assign one of my 
students to watch you, to make sure you don't break anything. I 
suppose this will help the university in some way, being of assistance 
to the local community. Now run along. Call Todd Gilford and tell him 
I asked him to show you around the lab." 
 
"Thank you professor. Goodbye now." 
 
"Yes, yes. Goodbye." 
 
 
"Hello. Is this Todd Gilford? My name is Claire Boydon. Professor 
Bimmelgum said I 
 
"Oh it's you. You know, I'm very busy. I don't see why I have to do 
this." 
 
"But the professor said you 
 
"I know. I know. And if he said it, I have to do it. How long is 
this going to take?" 
 
"I don't know. But I'm a quick learner. If you'll just show me where 
the instruments are I really won't be any bother." 
 
"Sure. We'll see about that. When do you want to start?" 
 
"Now? I'm right downstairs." 
 
"You are? Oh. Well come up. At least I can see you instead of 
talking on this phone in the hall. I'm on the third floor, fifth door 
on the right." 
 
"I'll be right there." 
 
Claire walks upstairs and passes a knot of boys who stare at her. 
 
"Are you coming for me? I'll come for you," one says, and they all 
laugh. Claire frowns and knocks on Todd's door. 
 
"It's open. Hey, you don't look like a scientist." 
 
Claire sets her lips. "Why? Am I supposed to be ugly or something? 
Anyway, I'm not a scientist, just a student." 
 
"Pretty, smart, clever, and humble to boot." Claire grimaces. "You 
don't like being talked about. I thought you'd like the attention." 
 
"I didn't come here for your attention Mr. Gilford. I need your help. 
Why don't you show me around the lab and then we don't have to bother 
each other again. Ok?" 
 
Todd looks her over carefully. "I can see this isn't going to be any 
fun. Right. Let's get it over with." He gets some books together and 
walks toward the door. Claire follows him out and across campus to the 
lab. 
 
Just keep your mouth shut and you'll get what you want. Everything else 
is unimportant, for now. 
 
"So what's your big project, high school student?" 
 
"Nothing fancy. I'm just trying to analyze the chemicals in a pill." 
 
"That could take a long time, unless you know what you're looking for." 
 
"I think I do. Anyway, that's my problem, not yours." 
 
"Just don't think you're going to get any help from me. Once I make 
sure you can handle the stuff, I'm out of here." 
 
"Fine. Don't worry, I know my way around a lab." 
 
Todd shows her the spectrometer and how to find the chemicals she needs 
, then leaves. 
 
Claire takes out a notebook, two of the pills and starts checking her 
work outline. She grinds the pills into a fine powder, dilutes a 
portion of it into water and runs the mixture through a centrifuge, 
then runs the separated liquids through various instruments, adding 
chemicals, boiling them away, freezing them and smelling them. 
 
This is really so obvious, once I see how they put it together. And 
yet, they did it all wrong. Maybe if they were better scientists, and 
less concerned with politics, they would have seen it. But they've 
just used a very raw chemical, with all sorts of impurities. There's a 
very simple process I can use, right here, that will purify it and make 
it much more effective. But there's a danger there. The more effective 
it is, the faster my muscles will grow, and the more energy I need. No 
one could eat that quickly. So maybe they knew what they were doing? I 
doubt it. They must have stumbled on it and stopped developing it once 
they had something that worked. But the energy problem can be solved, I 
know it. I won't find what I need here, but there must be a way to 
synthesize the glucose and amino acids to make the energy and protein 
available when needed. I know where I've read about it. OK. Tomorrow 
the library. 
 
Wait! Here's something else! There's another chemical in their pill I 
bet they don't even know about! Part of this pill increases the size 
of a female's muscles, but one part out of every ten thousand would 
enhance the effectiveness of the existing muscle. So if I take that, I 
won't run into the mass problem: how to eat enough to keep the muscles 
growing before I starve to death! It dissolves so easily in this acid 
solution. Then I can precipitate it out and, voila! Oh my! I've 
done it. I can't believe it. And this process will make as much as I 
need for myself, right now. I'll worry about making more later. 
 
Now, if I'm right, the ideal thing would be to build myself up, 
naturally. The larger my muscles, the more of an effect this would 
have. But who am I kidding? It would take forever to put any muscle on 
my body the usual way. And who has time for that!? I may as well wait 
until I find a way to use both at the same time. A few more days won't 
matter. Once I'm through, Toni and her friends will be nothing compared 
to me. 
 
After seven hours of steady work, Claire is writing down her results 
when she is startled by Todd, standing behind her. 
 
"Don't you have to go home soon?" 
 
"I was just finishing for the day." 
 
"For the day? So you didn't find your answer, did you?" 
 
"Not all of them, but most." 
 
"So what are you looking for?" 
 
"I thought you didn't want to help." 
 
"Maybe I changed my mind." 
 
"It doesn't matter. I don't need your help, thank you. Now, if you'll 
excuse me 
 
"Don't be in such a rush to get away. It's already pretty late. You 
really shouldn't be outside by yourself in this part of town. Now, I 
could give you a ride." 
 
"You're drunk. Just leave me alone, ok?" Claire pushes Todd away, but 
he grabs her arm and pulls her close. 
 
"You are so unfriendly. Hey, I had to interrupt my evening to make 
sure you didn't break anything, and what thanks do I get? You think 
you're entitled to all this, huh? You think you're better than I am? 
Got your eye set on Harvard, I bet. Don't be so smug. Those Harvard 
guys aren't any better than we are; they just have more money." 
 
Shit, just what I needed. 
 
"Would you let me go? I didn't say anything about Harvard. I just 
want to go home." 
 
"I know you rich girls. Always have everything your way, right? They 
shouldn't even let you into this place, but you've always got some kind 
of connections." 
 
Claire tries to pull away, but Todd holds her, then suddenly lets her 
go and she falls to the floor. She gets up and starts putting away the 
equipment and cleaning out the vessels. Todd stands over her. 
 
"Such a good little girl too. Puts away her things when she's done 
with them. What is this stuff anyway? Sure smells good. Is it 
valuable?" 
 
"Only to me. Please, it's my experiment." 
 
"Oh? You mean you want me to give it back?" He holds it over his 
head and moves away. "What will you give me for it?" 
 
"I don't believe this. Why are you doing this?" 
 
Todd pretends to throw it down then stops. He notices Claire's look of 
anguish. "It means a lot to you, doesn't it? What'll you give me if I 
let you have it?" 
 
"What do you want, money or something? I don't have any on me." 
 
"Money. Shit! You think you can buy me?" He puts the vessel on the 
table. "You've probably got tons of money. That doesn't mean anything 
to you. But I bet I know what does. You've got a good body. Why don't 
you show me a little tit? Here's the deal. You show me one, I'll 
give you half. You show me both, you can have the whole thing." 
 
"You're disgusting." Todd takes the vessel and starts to turn it over 
into the sink. "Wait! It'll take me a whole day to do my work over 
again. OK . You win." 
 
"Great. It's nice to know what you're priorities are. You'd rather 
expose yourself than do a day of hard work." Todd settles back onto 
the stool, waiting, while Claire, face red, unbuttons her cardigan. 
She stops and glares at Todd, but he just smirks back. 
 
"C'mon. I don't have all day." 
 
Gritting her teeth, Claire undoes thetop two buttons of her blouse so 
that her bra is showing, then slips the strap over her shoulder and 
pulls the cup down, exposing her breast. 
 
"Very pretty. They're always larger than you expect, you know?" He 
moves forward to touch her, but Claire backs away. Just then, there 
are voices in the hall and the door swings open. 
 
"Hey Todd. What's taking you so long? I thought you were just going 
to check up on this girl and get out of here. Oh look, it's Claire. 
So that's who you had to babysit." 
 
"You know her? I didn't know you hung around with those rich bitches." 
 
"Rich? What gave you that idea?" 
 
"I don't know. The way she acts." 
 
"You're such a dope Todd. She lives down the street from me, in the 
apartment building near the highway. Her dad split years ago and her 
mom's just a teacher." 
 
Two more students enter, both rowdier and drunker than Jim and Todd. 
"This is unbelievable. Are we going to spend all night in the lab 
building?" 
 
"Shit. Mark, Tommy. You guys have great timing. Claire was just 
showing me her tits when Jim came in." 
 
"Hey. I'll wait for that. Let's go girlie!" 
 
Claire spins on her heel and goes back to station to pack up her 
notebooks. 
 
"This is typical Todd. You get us all excited for nothing." 
 
Todd reddens and then walks across the room to Claire. "I don't know 
what you're doing here, but if you ever want to use this lab again, you 
better play along." 
 
"You have to be crazy if you think I am going to strip for you and your 
friends." Then, more quietly to Todd, "If I were you, I would start 
helping your friends calm down. You're going to create a bigger 
problem than you have already if you don't." 
 
"Hey, what's going on Todd. What's she saying?" 
 
"She says you guys are so ugly she won't strip because she's afraid 
it's catching." 
 
Claire looks at Todd sharply. "You're even more of an idiot than I 
thought." 
 
Jim and the other two cross the room. "Hey, girl. We don't want to 
hurt you. We just want to see what you were going to show Todd." Jim 
walks over to her books. "What is this stuff? Those are pretty fancy 
equations." 
 
"Hey, stay away from my work! It's private!" 
 
"That stuff is really important to her. I got a real rise out of her 
before when I threatened to pour it down the sink." 
 
"Hey, Todd. I don't know how to read all these formulas, but the 
headings say it's some kind of biology project." 
 
"Oh yeah? 
 
Claire takes a deep breath. "Look. I am going to walk over there, 
collect my books and leave. If you let me go, I won't turn you guys 
in, OK? We can just forget the whole thing. Just don't make me cause 
trouble. Please." 
 
Todd looks at Jim and smirks, "Oh yeah? What kind of trouble are you 
going to make?" He walks over to her and pulls her down. "Come on, 
take off your clothes, like before." 
 
"No! Don't!" 
 
Jim looks concerned. "Todd, what are you doing?" 
 
Mark laughs. "I don't believe this. You are such a wimp, Jim. Letting 
her get away when she says that crap about us. What are you afraid of? 
She's just a high school girl, staying alone in a building at two in 
the morning. Who's going to say anything?" 
 
Todd pins Claire's arm behind her back. "I can take off your blouse 
myself, but it would be easier if you'd just do it. I mean, you did it 
once already. What harm would it do, right? Then we can all go home." 
 
"I won't! Don't touch me!" Claire spins away and dashes to the lab 
table, where she grabs the vessel Todd left and quickly drinks it. She 
shivers . 
 
"Will ya look at that? She just ate that stuff. What is she trying to 
do? Poison herself?" The boys are between her and the door, and Tommy 
blocks her way while Mark closes in behind her. She bites her lip and 
shakes her head . Tommy grabs her arm, she pulls free, but then he 
takes both of them. "I got her. She's a real squirmy one, but I got 
her. You guys get her shirt off." 
 
I feel something, but I don't know if it's working. How long will it 
take? 
 
Claire struggles against Tommy. At first, he easily holds her still, 
then he starts perspiring. "Hey guys, don't make me hold her forever. 
Do it now." 
 
Todd reaches around to unbutton Claire's blouse again. She grits her 
teeth. "You touch me and I'll make you really sorry!" 
 
Todd smiles. "I don't think you're in a position to do anything to me. 
" He undoes two of the buttons and, growing impatient, starts pulling 
the shirt, when Claire with a tremendous effort slips out of Tommy's 
hands. "Hey, why'd you let her go? I was just about to finish." 
Claire and Tommy are both breathing hard. Tommy moves to grab her 
again, but she ducks away and scoots to the other side of a lab table. 
 
Tommy sneers. "You can't get away from us missy. Mark, you go around 
the other way." Mark licks his lips as he goes toward her while Tommy 
approaches from the other side. As Mark closes in, Claire turns and 
kicks him in the stomach. Mark doubles over. "Hey, she knows karate 
or something. Well , I do too." Tommy crouches and puts his hands 
out to defend himself from Claire's legs. She kicks out at him, but he 
evades it, then moves underneath her leg and grasps her foot, raises it 
and tries to topple her. Instead, she slams her foot down, breaking his 
grip. Tommy looks surprised. 
 
Claire starts to look more relaxed, though still alert. "You boys 
ready to quit?" Tommy shakes his head. 
 
Todd steps forward. "Hey guys, what's the big deal? I had her going 
all by myself before you got here." He grabs Claire by the waist and 
tries to wrestle her down, but she plants her feet and resists, then 
turns around to face him and knees him in the groin. Todd screams and 
collapses to the floor, writhing in pain. 
 
"Hey. Don't you dare do that to him! Man, you are really asking for 
it. Todd, you alright?" 
 
Tears in his eyes, Todd rolls over slowly and nods. "She got lucky. 
Damn that hurts." 
 
"Guys, this is going too far. Let's just get out of here, ok?, " Jim 
suggests. 
 
"No. I've had it with this chick. I'm going to teach her a lesson." 
Tommy edges slowly toward her, ready to defend against her kicks, but 
Claire does nothing to stop him, even letting him grab her by the arms 
again. Mark holds her tightly. "Come on guys. Mark, you want to get 
her back?" Claire closes her eyes and breathes deeply. "Hey guys, look 
at her. It looks like she's enjoying it. Well, I can tell you, it's 
gonna be fun for us, but not for you." Tommy pulls her arms in back of 
her roughly, forcing Claire's chest out, her shirt tightly binding her 
breasts. 
 
Mark looks eagerly at Claire and wiggles his fingers at her breasts. 
"You just touch me Mark, and you'll be sorry you ever woke up today. I 
guarantee it." 
 
Todd grins and gets up shakily. "Listen to her threaten Mark! Just 
look at her arms, guys, next to Mark's. Ha! She's got as much muscle 
as Mark has in his pinkie! Hey, something in that drink made you 
crazy. You're really asking for it now!" 
 
Jim looks nervous. "Claire, this is ridiculous. You might get really 
hurt. I . . ." 
 
"Your concern is really touching, Jim. Come on Mark. Let's get it 
over with." She looks up at him, glaring, as he nears her and reaches 
out to feel her breasts. Suddenly, she stamps on Tommy's foot and 
elbows him in the stomach. Turning, she hits his adam's apple with the 
side of her hand and watches him fall, gasping for breath. Whirling 
back around to Mark, she takes his wrist and pulls him down, then 
smashes the heel of her palm into his chin, chipping two of his teeth 
and filling his mouth with blood. She steps back, and slaps her hands on 
her hips. "Ha. I'm getting warmed up now. You're next Todd." Claire 
shifts daintily on her toes. She looks at her nails, then straightens 
her hair with one hand. "So, is this the best you guys can do?" 
 
"You may know some fancy moves, but you're still a girl. I'll wipe 
that smile off your face." He walks up to Claire and reaches back to 
punch her. Claire stands watchfully, then as Todd's fist hurtles toward 
her nose, she takes hold of his wrist and halts his blow, inches from 
her face. Quickly stepping forward, she takes his other arm. Then 
pushing his arms together, she takes both of his wrists with one hand 
and holds them. Todd struggles futilely to pull free, but Claire 
tightens her grip slightly and Todd's eyes open wide with pain. 
 
"I thought you would be more of a challenge Todd, but I guess you just 
don't have enough muscle. No match for me, are you? With her free 
hand, she lifts Todd in the air by his belt and holds him at arms' 
length. "Looks like you picked the wrong high school girl to molest 
tonight." Then, lifting him over her head, she throws him hard at Mark 
andTommy, knocking them down and leaving the three of them in a heap. 
 
Jim stares at her, open-mouthed. "You're magnificent!" 
 
Claire crinkles her nose and sniffs. "Now, I want the four of you to 
stay where you are. I have a little more work to do" She returns to 
her lab station and quiickly crushes two more of the pills on a table, 
then scrapes them into a beaker. 
 
"What are you doing?", Jim asks. 
 
"Finishing what I started." 
 
"I can see you're separating out most of what's in that pill. Is that 
what you drank before?" 
 
Claire glares at Jim. " If you don't ask so many questions, you won't 
end up like them." She pauses for a minute. "As a matter of fact, if 
I hear any talk about what I did to you guys tonight, or what I 'm 
doing here, I'm going to come back and do some more work on you. 
Anyone want to try me?" Tommy and Mark look down at the ground. Todd 
stares back, silently. Meanwhile, Claire has finished her work. 
 
This should give me the maximum effect, at least from these raw 
materials. I"ll have to think later if there is anything else I can do 
with this discovery. She runs some water in a beaker, mixes in the 
powder and drinks it. The reaction in my body is going full speed now. 
My senses, my mind, feel sharp as a blade. I don't even want to think 
about what it's doing to my strength. She closes her eyes and breathes 
deeply again. If I listen I can hear each of their hearts individually 
from across the room. What's that?! I think it's the insects buzzing 
outside, and that rapid, light beat must be the birds in that tree. And 
I can distingish each one. How I can keep track of it all, I don't 
know, but I'm doing it. Hmm. I can hear one of those boys getting up. 
I bet it''s Todd. I hope so. She opens her eyes. He's still down. 
All I heard was the change in his breathing and his heart beat. Too bad 
I can't read minds. She walks back toward the boys and stares hard at 
Todd. I can see inside every ugly pore on his face. Is that the blood 
flowing through his capillaries? It's like I can see right through his 
skin! It must be the opacity. I can't see through these walls at all, 
but I can see clearly through the night. This is so distracting, 
sensing so much, but yet I'm still processing it all, it all makes 
sense. She looks again at Todd. That odd aura. Am I seeing electro- 
chemical activity in his brain? Yes! I can sense the elecricity 
through the walls, even in the trees outside. This substance must have 
expanded the electromagnetic spectrum I can perceive. My sense of smell 
too; ugh, what are all these things I sense? And what about my sense of 
touch? Claire tightens the muscles in her vagina. Ooohh! That was 
easy! That's almost too distracting. 
 
A wave of pleausre has passed over Claire's face. The boys notice. 
Todd elbows Mark and whispers in his ear. "That must be some hell of a 
drug. Look at her. It's like she's in some other world. Now's our 
time to get her." Claire smiles again, her eyes still closed. "Come 
on, what do you say?" Mark rubs his chin and nods. They get up, and 
Claire's eyes spring open. 
 
Don't get any ideas!" Todd runs at her, but she grabs his arm and 
easily twists it behind his back and and spins him around so he is 
between her and Mark. "Before the rest of you start something, just 
watch what I do to him." She marches him across the room. 
 
Todd struggles, but can't break his arm free. "I don't get it. I 
pushed you around easily, just a half hour ago." 
 
"Yeah, I remember. Like this?" Claire pinches Todd's ass tightly and 
lifts him in the air, holding him at arms' length, then tosses him up 
to the ceiling. She catches him by the waistband, then laughs as it 
rips. As he falls, she grabs his calf, dangling him upside down. "You 
were toying with me just like this, weren't you, Todd?" Then, slipping 
her arm down to his ankle, she starts spinning him round and round, 
more and more rapidly. 
 
"Stop! Stop! I'm going to " Todd starts vomiting in a circular arc 
around the room, splashing his friends, while Claire stays nimbly out 
of the stream. Slowing him down, Claire lowers him gently into one of 
the larger puddles of vomit. 
 
"Had enough, asshole?" Claire sashays back to her lab table, in an 
exaggeratedly feminine walk. "I just don't remember when I've had so 
much fun with the boys!" Packing up her notes, she turns her back on 
them and walks out the door. 
 
Claire starts walking home, briskly, lost in thought. 
 
Now, it's obvious to me now how to combine the muscle expanding part of 
the drug with a supply of protein and glucose; it would take just a few 
hours of work to make a dozen or so pills for myself and a few friends 
that would rapidly expand their muscles, without the need for 
additional food intake. But I'm in no hurry. The great thing about 
this is I can keep this secret for now; no one can look at me and guess 
how powerful I am. Hmmm, except for Gilford and his friends, but I 
doubt they'd talk. 
 
Claire stops and circles back toward Todd's room. She spies the four 
of them limping back. Mark gripping his right hand, Jim supporting his 
friends. With her heightened hearing, she listens in on their talk. 
 
"I tell you guys, she's no jock. Even growing up she was as prissy as 
could be. She never played with us guys. You'd only see her going 
back and forth to the library, or helping her mom with stuff." 
 
"Well you tell us, Jim, how'd she get so strong? She drop- kicked me 
clear across the room. It's a miracle I don't have any broken bones!" 
 
"Maybe she is supergirl," Mark suggests. 
 
"Oh shut up, you idiot, there's no such thing." 
 
"You know, I heard about some funny stuff going on at her high school. 
Some of the girls getting real muscular and strong. My brother told 
me." 
 
"Yeah? Well Claire's got no muscles. Explain that?" 
 
Todd thought a minute. " I can't explain any of this, guys. But I say 
, let's forget it. I want nothing to do with that girl again. Let's 
just go in for the night, huh?" 
 
"You have no imagination, curiousity, or guts, Todd. I thought it was 
pretty amazing, and I want to know how she did it. Who knows? Maybe 
there's a secret way for us to get like that." 
 
"Sure Jim, and she's going to tell us." 
 
"No man, maybe that's what she was working on at the lab. You said 
yourself, Todd, that she swallowed something there, and that you pushed 
her around before. Maybe she made some kind or drug that made her 
stronger. Maybe we can figure it out." 
 
"Forget it Jim. You saw how she cleaned up. There's nothing left for 
us to look at." 
 
Jim looked at his tired friends. "You guys are such zeros. OK. Let's 
call it a night. I'm going up." 
 
So, Jim's curious. Well, he'll never figure it out.by himself. But 
maybe I can leave him some clues to throw him off track. This stuff 
won't work on a man anyway, but I bet I can make something that will 
have the opposite effect. Some other day. 
 
 
By the time Claire arrived home, it was four in the morning. Her mother 
had been up waiting for her, but had fallen asleep on the couch. 
Claire kissed her and she woke up. 
 
"Dear, I was so worried. Are you alright? Where have you been?" 
 
"I'm fine Mom. Great, in fact. I was doing some work at the university 
and I stayed too late. I had to walk home." 
 
"You walked! Why didn't you call? I would have picked you up!" 
 
"I'm sorry Mom, really. I didn't want to wake you up, and I was too 
excited. I solved my problem, although it took a lot longer than I 
thought it would." 
 
"That's great dear. Do you want to skip school tomorrow? You hardly 
have any time for sleep." 
 
"No Mom. I feel great. Really. Let's just go up to bed, ok?" 
 
"Ok. You can tell me about it tomorrw, I mean later today." 
 
"Hey Mom. One thing. When Dad, you know, used to hit you. Uh, did 
you ever want to hit him back." 
 
Claire's mother looked at her daughter strangely. "Why would you ask 
me that now? Has something happened to you?" 
 
"No Mom, really. Look, I'm sorry. I " 
 
"More than anything in the world, I wanted to put that bastard in his 
place, but it was too dangerous. He might have killed me, or hurt you 
too. I couldn't." 
 
Claire's eyes watered and she bit her lip, then went up to her room. 
 
 
Claire was putting her books away in the locker the next day, when she 
noticed two large shadows behind her. It was Darla and Melissa, each 
wearing sleeveless tops that fully showed their tremendous arm muscles. 
 
"Working out lately girls?" 
 
"Cut the bullshit Claire. Tina told us you talked her into giving you 
her pills. We want them back." 
 
Claire turned her back to them. "I don't see what business it is of 
yours." 
 
"I got them from someone else. They're just for my gang, understand?" 
Darla reaches for Claire, but she seeing her out of the corner of her 
eye, Claire ducks out of the way and Darla's hand crashes into the 
locker, denting it. "I'm not kidding Claire." 
 
"I don't have them here, Ok?" 
 
Melissa grabs Claire's purse and quickly looks through it, while Darla 
pulls open the locker and pulls everything onto the floor. "Well, 
where is it? " 
 
"As I told your little friend, I'm using them for some experiments." 
 
Melissa looks at Darla. "You mean, you didn't take any?" 
 
Claire shrugs. "You think I want to look like you? It's disgusting." 
 
Darla lifts her hand to slap Claire, but Melissa pulls her back. 
"Claire, do you need all fifty? Can't you give them back to us, 
please." 
 
"Since you asked me so nicely, Melissa, yes, I will give you back all 
but three. I'm almost finished with my work. I'll bring them in 
tomorrow." 
 
"And don't forget the other pills you promised Tina." 
 
Claire looks at Darla and then up at the ceiling. "You think I 
invented something that will give her a feminine body back? There's no 
such thing. I lied." 
 
Darla turns red, but Melissa holds her back. "Darla, as long as we get 
the real pills, we're ok, right?" Darla grits her teeth and glares at 
Claire, who turns away again and starts replacing her books into the 
locker. "Come on, let's get out of here and leave Miss Prissypants to 
her books." 
 
Claire chuckles to herself and walks to the library, where she takes 
out her notebook from last night and reviews her work. This is great. 
I've been up over thirty hours and I don't even need to sleep. I even 
feel smarter, somehow . If I've figured this correctly, two more doses 
like last night's and I'll get the full effect. I'll have to sneak back 
into the lab building, but that shouldn't be hard if I go late enough. 
 
"Claire Boydon. What are you doing? I don't remember ever seeing you 
in here staring into space. You always have some book open." 
 
"Leave me alone Arnold. This is the library, not a social. I'm trying 
to do some thinking." 
 
Arnold Bokker sits down next to Claire. "Did you get all seven physics 
problems? I got six of them, and no one else even got four." 
 
Claire glares at him and slams her hand against the table. "Damn! I 
forgot." Claire pulls out her physics text. 
 
"What are you going to do? Finish them in fifteen minutes? It took me 
three hours. You'll never get number seven." 
 
Claire ignores him and starts racing through the problems, jotting down 
the answers to the first three questions in less than a minute. She 
looks hard at the fourth question, smiles and writes an answer. Arnold 
is amazed. She finishes five and six, reads the seventh, and is 
startled when the bell rings. 
 
"You must have done it last night. No one could get those problems in 
fifteen minutes." Claire smiles and packs up. 
 
"I got the seventh one too Arnold, I just didn't write it down yet. 
See you in class." 
 
Arnold looks worried. "Wait. What did you do? Talk to one of the 
seniors?" Claire shakes her head and walks ahead. Arnold hurries to 
follow. "That one is ten points extra credit." 
 
Claire smirks at Arnold and strides confidently into class. "I know. 
That'll put me thirty points ahead of you. You'll never catch up to me 
now." 
 
 
It is late at night. Claire has climbed into the university laboratory 
through the window and is quickly mixing the precipitating solution. 
She discards the waste substances down the drain and flushes the sink 
with an acid solution to ensure the chemicals leave no trace and is 
about to drink the additional doses when she notices one of the closet 
doors slightly ajar. 
 
"Is anyone here?" She looks around carefully, then quickly downs the 
solution. She closes her eyes and sighs deeply. Then she stares at 
the closet again. "I can see you Cudd. You may as well come out." 
 
Jim steps out. "I thought you were up to something here. What are you 
drinking? Some kind of psychedelic drug? I'll try some, if you have 
any more. " 
 
"Nope. I'm not sharing." 
 
Jim raises his eyebrows. "You're not supposed to be here. I can call 
security, you know." 
 
Claire shrugs. "Go ahead. They won't catch me." 
 
"You're awfully sure of yourself. You look kind of different too. 
Like your skin is glowing. What's in that stuff?" 
 
Claire ignores him and walks back to the window, climbs out and 
disappears. Jim rushes over and sees her running swiftly across the 
campus, then he leans out. There's no ledge. How did she get down? 
She couldn't have jumped. It's three floors down. He walks back to 
where she was working and sees only a few drops of water on the counter. 
She's too damned neat! 
 
 
It's Friday morning, gym class. Claire is doing stretching exercises 
on the floor. Here come Darla and Melissa. That must be Cindy too. 
The three elephants. They surround Claire. 
 
"Did you bring the pills?" 
 
"Sure did." 
 
"Well, give them to us." 
 
"Not now. I'll get them after class. I don't want everybody to know. 
They'll think I'm dealing drugs or something." 
 
"Get 'em now!" 
 
Claire rolls her eyes upward. "I said I'd give them back and I will. I 
don't see why you're in such a hurry. I can keep a secret. No one 
knows about it." 
 
Melissa looks at Cindy. "You see," Cindy says, "I made a mistake with 
some pills I gave somebody. This girl, well, she's over seven feet 
tall now, and she's stronger than any of us. We're just afraid to 
take any chances. Th e people that gave us the pills would get mad and 
stuff." 
 
"So. What are you afraid of? What are they going to do to you?" 
 
"Well, they might stop giving us more." 
 
"Don't you think you're big enough as it is? I mean, really Cindy, 
everybody knows you're on something. Girls don't get like you from 
jumping rope." Cindy blushes. "So, is it some kind of gangster group 
that's going to knock you girls off?" 
 
"No, they're really nice. I think they're feminists or something. 
We're just a test, I think. Right, Darla? Like guinea pigs?" 
 
"We're not pigs, Cindy," Darla exclaims. Claire smothers a laugh, as 
the gym teacher approaches. 
 
"Girls, this is gym class, not social hour." 
 
Melissa puts her hands on her hips and flexes her arm and leg muscles, 
which expand voluptuously. "What's the matter Miss Grand? Don't you 
think we're in good shape?" 
 
"What you girls have done to yourselves is beyond me. I know you've 
been tested for hormones and you come up clean, but my eyes don't 
deceive me. You're up to something, I know. Claire, are they bothering 
you?" 
 
"Only a little Miss Grand." 
 
"Well, come with me. Will you lead class today?" 
 
"Of course." Claire gets up and walks away. 
 
"She's so slimy. I really hate her." Darla screws up her face and 
sticks her tongue out at Claire's retreating figure. 
 
"She sounds nice, but she always seems like she's laughing at us," 
Cindy adds. 
 
"We can get her later. Let's just be sure we get that stuff back. We 
may need the extras later on." 
 
After class, the three accompany Claire to her locker, where Claire 
returns a jar of pills to Darla. 
 
"Be sure to count them. Oh, and here's another one. You can give it 
to Tina. Tell her it will make her look like her old self again, even 
better." 
 
"Hey, how did you do that?" 
 
"Maybe if you girls paid a little more attention to your science class, 
you'd know." 
 
Darla grabs Claire by the belt and lifts her high in the air. "If we 
weren't in school, I'd beat you to a pulp." 
 
Claire looks down at her calmly. "You don't scare me. I have my ways 
of getting back if you tried anything. Now, why don't you just put me 
down, before I call for help." 
 
"Who's going to help you? We're stronger than anyone in this school." 
 
"I don't suppose you want to get suspended, do you? Or maybe have the 
police search you and your friends? I don't suppose you have a 
prescription for those pills, do you? And really, giving drugs to 
minors might get them in a little trouble." 
 
Melissa puts her arm on Darla's shoulder and whispers to her. "Put her 
down. We don't need her anymore. We can have enough fun on our own 
without her messing us up." 
 
Darla drops Claire, who lands neatly on her feet and straightens out 
her clothes. Then she turns her back on the three and busies herself 
in her locker. 
 
"Let's get out of here girls. We can give this thing to Tina." 
 
"Yeah. Hey, then let's all go to the mall."