| Mountain Dew & Urban Legends Page 1 |
| Author�s Note: This story is set when it was written, in about October 2003. Hailey sat in her doctor�s office, rereading the diagram of the lungs and the one on the circulatory system. The promotional poster on the door beckoned once more and she immersed herself in the description of Zoplavproin, or whatever �ingenious� names the pharmaceutical companies could dream up. She ran a hand through her auburn hair for the second time in as many minutes. Her mind raced with wondrous fantasies: could Amnesty International do something about doctors making their patients wait this long? Especially when it came to something so vital. �Hailey, hello and how are you?� the doctor greeted with the typical phony all physicians had to have been taught in med school. She questioned the sincerity of anyone who could ask that without raising their eyes from a manila folder. Would he even notice if she flashed her nipples? How okay could someone be if they�re in a doctor�s office to hear test results? �Anxious about what you found,� escaped her lips, being deemed the most diplomatic answer. �What did you find? What�s wrong with me?� He flashed that mock physician grin. �You take it that because I only called you back in for today, your boyfriend must not be the problem.� He paused for what he thought was dramatic effect, but instead induced the same irritated anxiety that game show hosts do before telling contestants whether or not they�ve won. �You would be correct,� he finally said. �The simplest way to explain this is that your ovaries are too small. How someone never discovered this before is beyond me. His sperm cells, as well as your body, cannot recognize your eggs as such.� �How does something like this happen?� She was too upset to remind him that the man was her fianc�. �It may have been a defect in your early development, a lack of the right enzymes at the right time, but you�re not alone. Several more women in this area have been diagnosed with the same problem when they were concerned about being able to conceive. I can give you more information; they have recently started a support group.� Hailey pursed her lips and exhaled slowly. Some part of her mind imagined the noise to be her stress flooding out of her body. She sought to aid that when she yanked open her fridge and pulled out a Mountain Dew Livewire. She cheered inwardly at having stockpiled enough cans and bottles to last a while. The hiss-crack of a fresh 20-ounce opening soothed her and her hunger cried out for the orange flavor to gush over her taste buds and the scent to fill her nostrils. A friend had once joked that she should try not buying Mountain Dew for several weeks and seeing if Pepsi�s stock would drop. Hailey had politely told that friend where to stick it; you can�t separate a girl from what she wants. �Now what?� Hailey whispered. Her fianc� had called while she was driving home; he�d been called away on business and telling her kind of news over the telephone wasn�t right. �Well, there�s always television.� �I�m Mackenzie,� one woman started. The early 30-ish girl pushed a lock of copper-hued hair behind an ear and smoothed her shirt over a huskier frame. �I talked to my doctor last week, he�s the same doctor the rest of you have. You, uh, y�all know what he told me.� She paused to exhale softly yet audibly. �I didn�t want to come here at first.� �You kept trying to convince yourself the doctor was wrong, you were having a nightmare, or the Matrix screwed up?� Hailey asked. She paused and the rosy hue already in her cheeks darkened. �Sorry to interrupt.� �It�s okay,� Mackenzie sighed. �Until you said it, I wasn�t completely sure how to say what kept me away.� �Don�t worry, either of you,� a raven-haired woman piped up. �You�re both too new to know that this is a place where you can feel free to jump in at any time.� She reached below her seat to take a swig from a familiar green bottle. �Leslie,� Hailey said, correctly stressing the first half of her name, �could I have a drink of your soda?� �No problem,� she answered in a youthful voice that made her sound more like a teen than a woman in her thirties. She passed the drink to her new friend. �I�ve been carrying �Reserve Bottles� in my car lately.� �I know what you mean,� added Mackenzie. �It�s like I�ve gotten addicted lately.� She noted the nodding heads around the room. �I figured my body was stocking up or something since, you know, I couldn�t have much when I got pregnant.� A blonde at the cusp of forty spoke up. �I�m Sherri and I�ve noticed something weirder.� She held up an arm to show a sleeve going past her hand. �This was my slutty too-tight shirt a few days ago. My kids have made comments as well. Either I�m losin� my mind� or the rest of me�s shrinking like my insides.� The attractive blonde who�d drawn everyone�s attention shrieked before anyone could counter her insane assertion. She pulled her legs onto her chair and left her sneakers behind. The others held back; unsure of what to do, afraid of catching whatever Sherri had, and terrified of acknowledging that they might soon experience whatever had seized her. Her clothing deflated as her body pulled in on itself. Every second that passed was an increase in her diminishment. Soon there was no sight of her and the scream she had been emitting from the moment it started had faded away. The weight of the denim pulled her empty jeans to the floor. Her panties flopped free onto the linoleum. |
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