Taste Test

I brushed the tip of my tongue against the mysterious object. It didn't seem to have much of a taste. It was like licking your palm. Maybe a tiny bit salty? But definitely warm. I know "warm" isn't a taste but the closer I got the more I could feel the heat radiating off the thing. My suspicion about it being some kind of heated up food intensified. Even more so when I rolled my tongue across the tip and ran into some kind of a divot. I lapped at the recess in the object. There was some kind of liquid inside. Definitely salty. But also musky? Some kind of weird musk stick?

Two hands placed themselves on the back of my head, pushing me forward.

"Take it deeper, dear."

It was Mom's voice. That confused me. If those were her hands, how was she holding onto the other end of whatever that thing was? I pushed the thought out of my mind, and her hands off my head.

"It's alright. I don't need the help. Seriously."

She hissed. Almost snarled. I'd never heard her make a sound like that before. When she spoke next it was like she was speaking from between clenched teeth.

"Alright. What do you think it is?"

"Some kind of ... sausage? With a filling?"

A dark, ominous giggle.

"Oh, it's a sausage alright. But a very special kind. This one you need to suck on to get at the filling inside."

"So... Do I win? Can I take the blindfold off now?"

The hands came back. And when they pushed this time it wasn't a suggestion. They forced it into my mouth and kept pushing until it banged against the back of my throat.

"You're not done until you suck out that filling. I made this just for you and you're not leaving until you taste it!"

I gagged. I tried to pull back. I hit my fists against my mother's thighs to get her to stop. This was too much. But her hands and legs were made of steel. It almost hurt to resist. Failing that, I pawed at my face to take off the blindfold. Suddenly my arms were pinned behind me, a pair of arms binding each one.

My sister?! Claire?! Were they in on this? Some kind of sick punishment game? I focused on breathing through my nostrils since my oesophagus was so tightly blocked. For a moment Lily seemed to pull back. But then she jammed it right back in. She repeated this, over and over, thrusting this foreign object down my throat.

I squirmed, thrashed, even kicked out with my legs trying to get them to stop. Surely they could tell how uncomfortable I was? But instead of letting up, the thing started to rotate in my mouth. I heard footsteps. Lily, holding the thing, walked around behind me. But she wouldn't take it out of my mouth. I had to crane my head back to adjust. And when I did that she just took the opportunity to jam it in deeper.

That angle was bad. I knew I couldn't last like that. But just then my mother spoke up:

"It's ready. Swallow it all, dear. Don't waste a drop!" She growled.

I didn't have a choice. The strange filling flooded through that massive salami and straight down my gullet. Only it was too much. The flow didn't seem to end. How much filling did that thing contain? Was it hollow on the inside? I concentrated on my breathing. I needed to stay calm. God, I was getting full. It was like they'd connected it to a hose and were piping a whole beer keg straight into me.

I thought I would throw up but no matter how much I drank I never felt sick. Full, yes. But not painfully bloated. And yet my gut started expanding - I could feel it. Like I was breathing in, only I was being pumped full of something instead.

My mother roared for some strange reason. The girls, still clinging onto me, inhaled sharply. Finally Lily began to pull it out of my mouth - for real this time. It dislodged from my throat with a schlorp. I could feel it leave a trail of liquid painted across my sore lips and bruised face. I coughed and gasped but nothing came out. All that filling was stuck inside me, filling me up now instead. I felt so heavy and weak.

"Why?" I asked. "That hurt."

My mother was panting. Was she worried? Terrified that she might have taken her joke too far? I thought that at first, but there was a smile in her voice.

"I couldn't help it. Girls, let's let Brandon rest for a while. He's had enough for now."

For now? There was more? They released their hold on my arms. Soon their footsteps receded into the distance. I tried to lift my arms to take my blindfold off but I was too weak even to do that. Why hadn't they taken it off for me? Confused, exhausted, stuck on the floor, and pinned down by a gutful of liquid cement, I decided to sleep it off.