Henry the horse and the Enchanted Apple Orchard
By Bradley H

Henry the horse was a happy horse, as any horse could be. He had a loving herd and fields full of grass for him to eat. Henry, however, was a very curious horse, sticking his big nose in places that it so often shouldn’t have been. If curiosity killed the cat, then it surely caused bodily harm to this particular horse. It was one such occasion of curiosity that brought our hero to his present state, as you, the reader, will see.

One fine sunny day, Henry wandered off from the safety of the herd, as he so often did. He trotted his way through a part of the forest he had never been before. It was very pleasant; sunny but a lot of shade between trees, with a soft cool breeze flowing through the valley. He raised his head and sniffed the air, finding it very appealing. His big nostrils, however, caught whiff of something. Something that smelled good.

Another fact about Henry was that he was a horse that loved to eat, and you can decide for yourself if that is a vice or a virtue. In any case, he was what is typically called a “fat ass”, or in this case, a fat horse. He was a bit shorter than the rest of the horses in his herd, which made his high weight seem even more apparent on his stout frame. His belly stuck out at least a foot on either side of his shoulders, and his rump sat high on his body its sheer mass. His cheeks were slightly puffy and soft with pudge, and his legs and neck were plump with fat. Henry could not deny it, though, he loved to eat. And most of the herd was fine with that.

Henry moved quickly, as quickly as he could that is, towards the intoxicating aroma. He soon happened upon a small clearing, the warm sunshine beaming down on his rich chestnut fur. He looked about for the smell and looked up, finding what had caught his nose’s attention. Up above him was a succulent, ripe apple, looking to him to be just a little smaller than his head. And luckily the swollen fruit was low enough for him to reach. He trotted over to the tree and tried jumping, only to be brought back down by gravity, his fat frame jiggling wildly with each futile jump. He then got an idea.

                Henry brought his front hoofs up against the tree and tried climbing up the side of the tree, his enormous belly pressing more and more against the bark. His back legs wobbled as they supported his entire weight now. He sweated profusely, despite giving only a little effort. He reached out his tongue, pressing it forward, almost there! Suddenly the bark beneath his front hoofs break away and he fell backward with a loud thud. He was uninjured, but knocked silly for a few moments. A thump to his forehead shook him from his daze and confused state. He looked about to see what had hit him, and there beside him was the big, juicy apple. His eyes lit up with glee as he rolled over, getting back to his feet. He approached the apple and sniffed it. The smell gave away the apple’s plump and juicy nature. A plump apple for a plump horse, Henry thought. Without question, Henry took a big bite out of the fruit, then another, then another, each bite better than the last. The apply flavor exploded in his mouth, and he only wanted more. He soon realized, though, that he had eaten the entire apple.

               Henry’s belly then rumbled, and he knew he needed more. Luckily for him his fall had shaken even more apples from the tree. He gave a happy whinny as he trotted to each apple, gobbling them up as he pleased. Henry didn’t notice at the time, but these apples were having a strange effect on him. With each bite he took and with each bite he swallowed, his frame grew a little softer, a little plumper, and a little wider. With each fruit he ate, he gained a bit of weight. Only a little at first, but with each apple he consumed, more plush fat was added to his belly, neck, and rump. He barely noticed his belly grow a few more inches in diameter, nearly touching the ground now. He took no notice of his quickly rising rump, the giant butt in jeopardy of growing taller than his head. And he never thought of his neck and chest and cheeks swelling with plump fat, making his entire body look fuller and thicker. No, not Henry, he was too happy to eat to his heart’s content. And he certainly never noticed the Wizard as he walked by. (For reference, listen to Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard”).

               His shadow cast forward across the swollen rump of the horse before him. He watched with a crooked eye as this fat horse gobbled up his enchanted apples grown specifically for him. His long gray beard twitched as he growled to himself. Though the Wizard could easily strike down the pig-like horse, he chose not to, for he was a forgiving and generous Wizard. With a semi-wicked smile, he brought his long bony arms and hands up above his head. With no words at all and a simple turn of the wrist, he shot a small lightning bolt of magic at the horse’s ass. Henry hardly noticed, though, as his long tail whipped at what he thought was a fly. The Wizard grumbled, thinking there would have been more of a reaction. But he shrugged, knowing that the spell was cast, and he went about on his way. If the horse wanted to eat his apples so badly, the Wizard thought, then he could have the whole orchard. And if he wanted to bloat with fat from his gluttony, then it shall be.

               Henry, unaware of the magical spell cast upon his giant ass, continued to eat. One after another the apples disappeared into Henry’s gut. But Henry noticed something strange after a while. His whole body became tingly, as if he was stretching his muscles and relaxing them. It was a very pleasing feeling, but still it caught his attention. The feeling came about each time he ate a giant sized apple, and the more he ate the stronger the feeling became. He also noticed more apples around. There had only been a dozen or so before, but there seemed to be more and more around him. Henry was delighted to see so many delicious apples for him to gorge on.

               Little did Henry know that the feeling he felt was in fact his body bloating bigger and bigger. Whatever record weight gain Henry had set in the past was quickly being outdone as his entire frame grew thicker with fat. His rumps ballooned, his belly grew wide and low, and his neck and other features bloated out into a soft coat of thick fat. With each apple he ate he came closer to being a living horse ball.

               After the 20th apple Henry began to notice that he was having a hard time getting around. He had always had trouble moving around, being as chunky as he was, but this was ridiculous. He panted his way over to the next apple, a bit of sweat beading on his short fur. He also began to notice the apples were getting bigger as he ate more. But he simply couldn’t help himself. His belly never seemed to feel full. He ate and ate and ate, but none of it made him feel fullness. This didn’t deter Henry; oh no, in fact it made him eat more. And as a result, he fattened, and fattened, and fattened.

               By the 50th apple, Henry could no longer move. He looked down to his hoofs and looked back behind him and he was shocked at what he saw. His chestnut brown belly had ballooned to be three times as big as it was, the bloated belly finally reaching the ground and pulling Henry’s hoofs up off the ground. His belly had turned into his own personal bed, thick and wide with fat. His rump had engorged with fat, too, now looking like two giant beach balls of fat connected to his backside. His butt was so big his tail could barely swish anymore. Henry’s cheeks, neck, and chest with thick and plump with fat as well, his neck alone thicker than an elephant’s neck. Henry groaned, not because he was full, but because of the opposite. His belly still ached for more food, but his body had grown so huge, he couldn’t even walk.

              Suddenly Henry noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned back to see one of the giant apples floating in front of him. It simply dangled there in mid-air. Henry was quite surprised, but he brought his chunky nose close o the fruit and sniffed. Finding no foul odors, he took a big bite. It tasted all the same, so he ate away, finishing off the apple in seconds flat. With just that apple Henry’s body thickening and grew, his belly lifting him up off the ground further, his butt growing wider and plumper.

              Henry was even more surprised to find another apple floating behind the one he had just finished. This one looked even bigger than the last. He gave another gentle sniff, and this one smelled even better, so he took another bite. And indeed, it was even better than the last. And after that apple, a third, a fourth, a fifth floating apple for Henry, each bigger and tastier than the last. Henry lost count of how many giant apples he ate that day, all he knew was that his belly wasn’t full yet, and the apples just kept coming.

               A few hours had past and the herd started to wonder where Henry was. Amy and Billy, two of Henry’s friends, ventured out to find him. They traveled for a while before coming upon a clearing. They looked about and saw that it appeared to be an orchard, but there were no apples on the trees; hundreds and hundreds of trees around them, all apple trees, but no apples. The two horses wandered about, searching for any sign of Henry, but to no avail. They decided to take a break next to a large brown boulder. When they got closer they noticed the rock looked like it was covered in something that resembled fur, but they thought it was just brown moss. They sat down and rested their heads on the giant brown rock, but found it to not be hard and craggy, but soft and warm to the touch, their heads sinking into the strange rock. They got up and took a few steps back, and they were amazed to see what they saw.

              Henry had grown so massive that he resembled a giant brown-furred boulder. His belly had ballooned, taking up most of his body. His legs dangled uselessly on his side. His neck had swelled so much that it meshed into his belly, making Henry look spherical. His rump, too, had fattened so huge that it looked like Henry had become a giant ball of fat with two giant ass cheeks and a head. The two horses couldn’t tell if Henry was even alive, but they soon found his head and found that he was fast asleep, snoring even! They knew Henry could eat, but not this much. Amy gave him a swift kick to the gut, which made his entire body jiggle and vibrate. Henry’s eyes fluttered open and he looked down, a bit surprised to see his two friends. He gave an awkward embarrassed smile.

             He explained that as he ate the apples in the orchard, more just kept on coming. And he felt so hungry that he could hardly resist the tasty apples, even once his belly started to keep him from moving. After a while he accepted it, and as he ate he grew and grew into the giant ball of horse fat that his friends saw before them. He expected his friends to laugh and make fun of his new size, but they nuzzled his belly instead and laid down next to his giant belly, cozying themselves up to his abundant belly. They explained that they had spent a while trying to find him and that they were tired out, and they thought that his big warm belly would be a good place to take a nap. So they did, falling asleep on the spot. Henry smiled to himself and shut his eyes, falling back to asleep as well. He didn’t know if his belly would ever go away, but at least he knew his herd had a new place to sleep.