Obe City-1I stood in line outside the walled city in the midst of the vast plain that makes up most of the interior of Winkie Country. Winkie Country is located in the western part of the magical Land of Oz that I call home. Have you heard of Oz? It is a most wonderful country filled with all kinds of the most wonderful and queer folk. Ozma has decreed that everyone is to find the area of her great land that suits the nature of each. That way no one feels disconnected from those of the same interests and way of living and therefore ensuring that none of her subjects is unhappy, for the unhappiness of any of her subject’s tears at Ozma’s gentle heart terribly. Which of course is why she is such a just and gracious ruler.When I was a little boy in Emerald City, for that is where my parents wished to live, I heard of a new town Ozma was founding in the very middle of yellow Winkie Country. Apparently Ozma, in her scrying of the whole world by the means of her magic picture, had found out that in many other lands people who are very fat were persecuted in a myriad of horrible ways. Not even the Gnome King could think of such wickedness. So immediately Ozma set out build a city for any and all in her land to settle with people who were very fat, or who enjoyed living with fat folks. Of course, if you enjoyed waddling around the Emerald City of any part of Oz that was fine by the little Queen, but Ozma designed this city as a place fat folks could call home. She spent many hours sequestered with the Wizard and Glinda in planning out the city, and with great fanfare christened it Obe City. And folks came in droves to live there. Even as a boy in knickers I knew that was where I wanted to live. But there were a few rules. Number one you had to be fat to live there. Not just a little bit, you normally had to weigh at least 300 pounds to become a citizen of that great city. And you could not make the decision to live there until you were out of your parents' house at 18. Exceptions were made for children whose parents lived there. So, to go back to the beginning of this tale, two weeks after my 18th birthday I stood with suitcase in hand at the gates of Obe City. There were about 30 of us spread out in front of the gates clutching our possessions as we waited to be let in. Things seemed to move on a schedule. It was 8:55 a.m., and apparently whoever worked the gates was not going to be rushed by opening them before 9:00 a.m.I was about two-thirds of the way back in the line to get in. Most of us looked like we were fully ready to become citizens of Obe City. The girl directly in front of me looked to weigh at least 400 pounds and apparently only her age had been holding her back from making the trip. She had thought ahead and was in the process of eating a box of éclairs. Unfortunately, I was just short of the requirement, and only weighed 280 pounds at my last weighing. Still, I felt that if I made the journey I would not be turned away by Obe City.Finally the doors started to open. We all filed in. As we entered, it was apparent that we were not entering the city proper but a gatehouse and barracks of some sort. As we all filed into the courtyard, we were greeted by an odd sight. An extremely fat woman sat in a large padded loveseat, which seemed to be pacing back and forth in the courtyard (the loveseat, not the woman, of course). It was clear to us that Wizard had been at work with his Powder of Life, it was also clear to us that the woman before us would have as great a difficulty pacing as her loveseat was having. She wore a smart yellow smock and pants. If I had to guess her weight, I would gauge it in the high 900s. She filled the wide loveseat from edge to edge and her belly had drifted over her knees and rested comfortably in between her calves. As soon as all of us had entered the courtyard she turned to face the group.“Hello,” she said as her mobile chair turned to face us. “I am Emelia and I am here to assist you all in the transition to becoming residents of our great city. I am proud of you all; I remember how nervous I was when I left my parents' farm to make my journey here. Please consider the gatehouse your temporary home. Roselie will have your room assignments inside. Some of you will only be staying here for a few nights as we make arrangements for your home or apartment. Others will need to spend some time being nurtured and tended to by our caring staff to make your transition to living in Obe City. There is a weight restriction, but if you can comply in a reasonable amount of time, we will be happy to help you. Welcome and enjoy our hospitality.”
Then Emelia clapped her hands and a troupe of walking loveseats made their way out of the gatehouse and lined up behind us. The loveseats chose their occupants by capacity, some being sturdier than others.
“Please sit everyone, we need to get you weighed” said Emelia with a chuckle.
I was happy to sit down and sat down carefully. The loveseat was very soft and quite comfortable. If I wasn’t anxious about being turned away because I was a lightweight I probably could have taken a nap. I was still curious about how we were going to be weighed.
Getting weighed was always a bit of a trial for me. I used to always dread how many weights my mother would have to put on the scale to balance. It became an embarrassment to me. My other two brothers were naturally athletic and teased me constantly how fat I was getting. I just hope I was fat enough for Obe City. That would be terrible, to be too skinny for Obe City and too fat for everybody else.
I remember how I first heard of Obe City. Being a chubby boy in a skinny family whenever I needed to get away I would make my way to Madam Maxine’s Ice Cream Emporium. I would sit there and eat my way through her various flavors of ice cream and she would tell me funny stories. Max knew that her shop was ice cream therapy. Some Days I would stay there all day long reading a book, drinking a milkshake and eating cookies. It was more home to me than my real home.
One day after a particularly bad time with my brother’s I made my way to the Ice Cream Shop and found the shop closed. I knocked on the door and found Max packing up the shop for moving. She still had some ice cream left and she made me a huge sundae and broke the news that she was moving to Obe City.
Max was so happy. It was then that I realized that I had a crush on Max. She was so sweet to me and I just loved to sit and talk with her but until that moment I didn’t realize that I was in love. I thought she was wonderful I didn’t think about the fact that Max had to weigh at least 500lbs. Max was Max. She was really looking forward to living in a city filled fat friendly conveniences.
I didn’t want to bring Max down with how much I was going to miss her. I could tell that Max knew what I was thinking as she pressed a piece of paper into my hand with her new address and said “write me.”
Max and I had continued to write to each other through the years and in my pocket was her latest letter; she said she was looking forward to seeing me. So much time had passed since we last met but I knew that Max meant it. I just had to meet the weight requirement to enter Obe City.

Obe City – Part Three
Once we were all seated and comfortable in our loveseats Emelia said, “I will go first. 1082 how much do I weigh?”
At that point I saw that there was a brass plaque at the very top of the high backed loveseat which displayed the number 1082. Also there was what looked like a face stitched into the pattern of the loveseat, now that I looked at it. The stitched face was situated underneath the plaque and above Emelia’s chubby head.
In a bold voice the chair said,”932 pounds and 7ounces.”
Emelia smiled with pride as her loveseat announced her weight. Then she motioned for the line of furniture to rattle off how much we all weighed.
Most of the applicants weighed much more than 300 pounds. After each person was weighed Emily would clap and congratulate them on being a suitable candidate to live in Obe City. One very massive boy who weighed in at 729 pounds Emelia’s chair practically danced with delight.
I was blushing with embarrassment when my loveseat announced that I only weighed 278 pounds. I was the first person that weighed in less than 300 pounds. Emelia noticed my chagrin and nodded at me somberly, “there, there we will fatten you up in no time my boy.”
There were four of us that were underweight. None of us were all that far away from the weight goal. The smallest only needed to gain thirty pounds. Emelia pointed to a corner of the courtyard and all four of our chairs walked us over there and situated themselves in a comfortable circle.
The other applicants filed into the gatehouse from heaviest to lightest. Emelia talked with each one before sending them in to see Roselie. It was then that I noticed about 15 Sprites that flew out of a window of the gatehouse. They carried a large book and laid it on the top of Emelia’s spreading belly. Then four Sprites broke off from the group and opened the book up to a page, and one grasped a large quill and started writing the things Emelia dictated into the book.
As we waited for Emelia to finish we introduced ourselves. Emy and Steven were from a small town in Gillikin Country that was situated on the border of Great Impassible Dessert. Jo wore the red dress that declared her a resident of Quadling Country. And I was dressed in the customary green garb of the Emerald City. I know that I was a little nervous about what was in store for us, but I knew that Emelia seemed quite sincere when she said that she could fatten me up in no time.
Emelia wasn’t wasting any time. As we sat chatting with each other I noticed a line of what appeared to be clockwork men carrying tray’s of drink’s and pastries start walking up and down the line waiting to enter the gatehouse plying them with food and drink. A cloud of Sprites exited a window far above us and helped in the distribution effort.
The Land of Oz has many queer residents. I had not seen any of these Sprites before today. They stood about eight to ten inches tall with the women being the taller than the men. Their wingspan was about equal to their height and they were all dressed in form fitting flying clothes. They seemed to enjoy feeding everyone. It was as if it was a favorite game of theirs. A Small cloud of sprites broke off from the main group followed by four clockwork men bearing trays. The food certainly looked good.
“What would you like to drink,” said a small Sprite.
“Coffee please,” said Emy and Steven.
“Cocoa,” said Jo in a quiet voice.
“Do you have any tea?” I asked sheepishly.
With glee the sprites went to work and soon we were all cradling our favorite morning beverage. It was quite amazing to see these magical creatures work together. I felt like I might have entered a bizarre dream.
Then what I call the leader was enquiring what pastry each of us fancied. Soon we all had a team of sprites eagerly thrusting pastries at us as we munched. A couple of sprites could hold large Danish. There was one tray of donut bites and a single sprite could easily carry one.
It was a bit disconcerting because as soon as you opened your mouth these fairies would cram something in it. They worked with assembly line efficiency and soon they had me trained to just relax and let them take care of feeding me.
One would whisper in my ear what I was eating or ask if we would like a drink and the soon I found my eye’s closing and even though I was falling asleep a little fairy would whisper “open up” and I would have to obey or it would start tugging on my ear.
I like sweets as much as anybody but eventually I reached that no more state. My mouth almost seemed conditioned to open after I finished chewing but I pressed it tight as I felt a sticky substance collide with my face and an angry sprite started tugging on my ear.
I cracked open my eyes and asked the sprite that was glaring at me “could I have some real breakfast instead of all this sweet stuff?”
“I have to follow order’s you know,” said the sprite in a worried tone and “and you need to get fatter. Cheese Danish and muffins aren’t that sweet will you eat those?”
“O.K. I won’t throw up eating muffins, thank you.” I said and then opened my mouth like a baby bird again. Soon a blueberry muffin was thrust at my mouth with considerable force making me take a huge bite. Apparently the sprites I had bounced off my fat face were taking their revenge by making sure I didn’t waste any more food.
I felt my little sprite rub my temple as I obediently ate she whispered,” There’s a good piggy we will fatten you up in no time.”

Obe City- Part Four
My stomach felt incredibly full as I relaxed and let my team of sprites feed me. I could tell that I was about to burst but kept on chewing and swallowing and drinking tea now and then to wash down the sweet muffins. I was about to say something to the sprite that had been coaxing me to eat when I heard Emelia’s voice.
“That’s enough of that dears, can’t have these newcomers so stuffed before breakfast that they can’t eat anymore, they are not used to our ways. We have to break them in slowly.”
We all sat up in our chairs and looked like we were more alert and less comatose from eating.
Emelia looked us over and sighed, “you all look like skin N’ bones but I will fix that. Follow me”
I started to lever myself out of my chair forgetting that the chair’s do the walking here in Obe City. I sat back down when my chair started moving and followed Emelia. I noticed all the other applicants had already entered the gatehouse and the clockwork men were busy gathering their belongings to move them to their rooms. The rest of the sprites had flown back in the window but my eating coach still sat right by my ear. I could not see my friends but knew that they probably had a sprite assigned to them as well.
We entered the wide doorway of the gatehouse and saw that the rest of the applicants were sitting in a large room to the right of the stairs that appeared to be a dining hall and by the look of the clockwork men leaving the kitchen bearing full trays full of flapjacks, sausage, bacon, eggs, grits, fruit and anything else you can imagine it looked like breakfast was just starting.
Emelia’s oversized chair kept walking and went straight up the stairs, and our chair’s followed hers in a line. I was nervous but apparently the stairs were built to our chair’s specification with shallow but deep risers and I soon found myself on a second level and instead of continuing upward our chairs followed Emelia into a very plush and nice office.
Apparently there are perk’s in gate keeping.
“Breakfast smells good doesn’t it?”said Emelia with a smile. She apparently noticed our stunned faces.
“What you’re not hungry? Are you four sure you want to become residents of Obe City?”
I was full to bursting but I piped up and said “It smells delicious, even though I don’t know how I will eat a single bite more. I really want to enter your city maam.” Emy, Steven and Jo also said that breakfast looked really good but they were also full after eating all the donuts.
My sprite sitting so close to my ear whispered just so I could hear, “good job pork chop.”
Emelia looked at the four of us with a gleam of determination in her eye.
“Just what I would expect of applicants of Obe City, you four have some choices to make. You can gain the old fashioned way and you might be ready to enter Obe City in a month or two or we could speed things up a bit and you should be eligible to enter in days or weeks. The only thing about the fast track system I use is it has a side effect. Often those that choose this route in gaining entrance to Obe City never stop using my system. They tend to be some of our fattest citizens. So which method would you like to use?
I remembered the letter in my pocket to Max and thought about how much I was looking forward to seeing her. I did not know what I thought about perhaps getting fatter than Max but I knew that I didn’t want to wait any longer. A month would be too long.
“I don’t know about this side effect but I want to try the fast method,” I said in a quiet thoughtful voice. My sprite started giggling in my ear when she heard the answer.
The other applicants also took some time to think about the choice before them and they all decided to gain the old fashioned way.
“Well if that’s your decision then you three can speak to Roselie and enjoy breakfast or rest in your room. We will have plenty of time to get to know one another during your stay,” said Emelia with a wave.
My companion’s chairs started filling out of Emelia’s office. “What’s so funny,” I whispered to my companion by my ear.
“Nothing, nothing,” said the laughing voice in my ear.
Before I could inquire further Emelia had brought her chair right in front of mine. She was a huge mountain of a woman at 932 pounds. Her happy smiling face was wreathed in layers of bulging chins. She looked at me with a very serious but happy expression on her face.
“I knew you would decide to use the fast gaining method in order to become a citizen of Obe City,” said Emelia with a smile. “Professor Wogglebug and I perfected this weight gain formula. I have only used it on a few people. You in fact will be my third recipient of the new formula. It is quite effective and I do believe that you will love the fat you will gain. I should have you out of here in less than a week.”
As Emelia continued to talk she sent a few sprites to pick up a few large bottles on her desk. Emelia opened two of the bottles and her sprites flew over with two large pills. One was yellow and the second was green and pink.
I swallowed both and washed them down with a glass of water another sprite provided.
“How did you know I would not gain the old fashioned way?”
Emelia laughed and her whole body shook, “you kept looking taking out that letter that was in your pocket. I figure you have a girl on the inside and are eager to see her again.”
My face turned red with embarrassment and I heard the tinkling sound of laughter as my sprite started laughing again.
I would have asked Emelia a few more questions but much to my embarrassment my stomach took that moment to start growling. I did not see how I could possibly be hungry but apparently with a little help from Professor Wogglebug I was immediately hungry again.
Emelia laughed at my growling stomach and instructed me, “Go eat, every time you start to feel too full just ask your sprite for another one of my appetite pills. They are the green and pink ones. If your arms get too tired ask the sprite assigned to you to have a feeding crew help you. There’s no shame in it that is what our sprites are here for. It’s quite nice to just sit back and eat without even having to lift a fork to your mouth. I know my arms are getting so heavy I would starve if I had to feed myself like I used to. And Gorden, after lunch you should take a long nap, that way all the calories you eat this morning should go straight into fat. This evening please come to my office and we will continue your treatment after dinner.”

Obe City- Part Five
Wonderful breakfast smells assaulted me as my chair left Emelia’s office and started making its way down the stairs towards the dining hall.
Breakfast had been going on for a while, and there were a few vacant seats. My Chair knew where it was going and brought me right between Jo and the very large boy that had weighed in at 729 pounds this morning. I was about to introduce myself to my neighbor to the right who nodded to me as he took a large bite of his biscuits and gravy, when a flour covered sprite with an apron and pen and paper approached.
“What don’t ye like to eat for breakfast son,” she said in a slightly archaic accent.
“What don’t I like to eat?”
“Yes cook often makes what strikes her fancy or what she feels will bulk you underweights up the best. So often it’s easier to just ask what you don’t like to eat.”
“Ohh well I’ve never been that fond of Oatmeal.”
“Do you like fish?”
“Yes I do.”
“What would you like to drink?”
“Coffee and Orange Juice”
And with that she made her notes and flew back to the controlled chaos that was the kitchen.
It looked like Jo was eating a plateful of crepes filled with sausage and cheese and covered with a thick creamy sauce. The boy to my right introduced himself breathlessly as Michael between bites of fluffy biscuits covered in rich sausage gravy. Both Jo and Michael were not very talkative as they were enjoying their breakfast and their mouths were otherwise occupied.
In fact as I studied the rest of the room I realized that there was not a whole lot of conversation going on. We were food people. We were fairly spread out because of our chairs but it was a beautiful picture of bulging bellies, double chins, and jiggling arms as we all quietly stuffed themselves with a very evident pleasure. Michael although the heaviest did not look the fattest, there was a short girl across the table from me that had to be the fattest of us. She winked at me when she caught me looking at her. My face reddened in embarrassment when I was saved a moment of awkwardness by a plate of eggs Benedict and fried potatoes.
My breakfast began.
And what a breakfast it was. My eggs Benedict were followed up by the sausage and cheese filled crepes that Jo was eating. They were so rich, filling and creamy I savored every bite. Soon I was enjoying the last few drabs of the creamy sauce and my plate was empty. Normally I would have been full at this point but appetite stimulant seemed to still be working and I was still quite hungry.
A platter of fried fish and buttered grits took the place of my empty platter. I had never had fish for breakfast before but I loved grits so I dug in to the next selection after shaking a little salt and pepper over my grits. It looked like there were seven large pieces of fried fish and after eating the grits and four of the fish fillets I was slowing down.
Michael was eating a huge sausage casserole and looked down at me and said through a mouthful of egg, “slowing down already.”
“Yeah it’s very good but really rich.”
The sprite next to my ear whispered violently, “that’s enough of that keep eating. Finish your fish and then you can take another green and pink pill. You can’t let this guy out eat you.”
“It’s not a contest and I am getting kind of full.”
“Gorden, I know that you finish this plate, be a good boy for me. You don’t want to get me fired do you? Just eat the rest of your fish and then you can rest for a bit,” said my sprite in a pleading voice.
Call me a sucker but I my sprite sounded so sincere. I answered her by continuing eating and soon I was eating the last forkful of fish. My stomach felt so full it almost hurt me. My pants seemed to bite painfully into my swollen stomach. I surreptitiously undid my belt and unbuttoned my pants. I felt partially better and sighed and closed my eyes and unconsciously started rubbing my bloated stomach.
I opened my eyes to find Jo looking at me. As soon as she saw me looking back she blushed and turned back to her half eaten omelet. I didn’t say anything to Jo because a huge platter of blueberry pancakes was set before me. I was going to mention that I couldn’t possibly eat anymore but another sprite flew down and deposited another pink and green pill next to my plate.

Obe City- Part Six

I opened my eyes groggily. Apparently I made it back up to my room. I vaguely remember rolling out of my chair and into bed. I had eaten so much I was almost in pain when I lay on my side and tried to go to sleep. Breakfast lasted into lunch and every time I begged my sprite that I was too full and could not eat another bite she would have another one of those infernal appetite pills laid by my hand. As soon as I swallowed the pill I would feel my apetite return even though my stomach finally felt close to bursting.
Finally after I ate a huge platter of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I heard Emelia tell the sprites to give me dessert and send me up to my room to nap.