Prompt of the Week - Week 85

TAGS: Wish Upon A Star, Growth, Macro/Macro Growth

---===---

Maintaining a long-distance relationship was never going to be easy, and neither of them were under any delusion that it would be. From the very start, both Jack and Carla danced around the sensitive topic of whether or not they should give one another “some space”, only to crash headlong into one another once it became clear neither of them wanted to give up what they had; one didn’t simply forget one whole year spent together, doubly so when it had been the best year of their lives.

Besides, it wasn’t a permanent arrangement. Carla’s contract was due to end within six months, so just as long as the two of them could hold out for that time, they could be together again; the otter would return, she’d have something else to slap onto her resume, and was more than likely to find something a bit closer to home… a home that the two of them fully planned on sharing when the time came for it.

Still, there was hard work to be done on a daily basis, and more often than not the two lovebirds found themselves thoroughly exhausted as they tried to juggle their professional life with their relationship; would’ve been a lot easier if timezones hadn’t butted in either, but alas, they had to learn to work through a six hour difference somehow, which led to a great deal of bags under eyes for the two of them.

Nevertheless, they were insistent, and utterly refused to give one another up just because there was an ocean in between them and all they saw of one another was a box on a screen. To a certain extent, that they did throw their all into keeping the relationship alive served as a form of fuel itself: clearly, if they were ready to sacrifice so much just to keep some semblance of normalcy between them, just to see one another, just to make one another smile with some dumb pun they thought of during the day, then it had to be something worth keeping. If they refused to let distance make their hearts go yonder, then it had to mean they were meant to be together, damn geography, distances, and horrible latency whenever the service went down!

This was, of course, what went through their minds on the good days. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses; Carla and Jack would be lying if they said they had never had an argument, but at least in person it wasn’t so easy to shut the other person down. With a screen and internet connection between them, the urge to click that X button on the corner was such that, at times, the two of them mutually agreed to do so and call it day… only to reestablish a connection a few minutes later so they could break apart into a torrent of apologies.

Finding a rhythm to it was maddening, seeing as Carla’s job required her to be on call for most of the day if need be. Jack lost track of the amount of times he turned his laptop on, only to see his precious ott on the other side, dressed in a labcoat that looked like it hadn’t been ironed in weeks, face covered with a mask and surrounded by brooms as she tried desperately to get a moment for herself amidst the chaos. More than once she’d been forced to call Jack when the bunks next to her were… occupied, leaving the two of them with the unstated, but painfully present truth that they couldn’t very much do the same anymore.

At least Jack’s job kept him occupied as well. If not for the avalanche of numbers he was in charge of on a daily basis, he might just do something stupid, like sit down and think about what had been going on with his life. Just as long as he had something to do, something to occupy his mind with, then he could shield himself from the realisation of just how lonely he felt, and how much he wanted to call in his sick days, buy a plane ticket, and go visit Carla while he still had the chance to do so; there was an audit coming, and the only reason his bosses weren’t going to staple him to his desk was purely because HR would object to physical assault.

This left the two in the unenviable position of having to cut back on the amount of time they spent talking to one another. Carla had her schedule completely full already, and with Jack’s workload getting in the way, the two had to have that talk; plenty of tears were shed, inelegant blubbering was had, but in the end, reality always won: they had to stop talking to one another on a daily basis.

At first, they agreed upon alternating days, but soon enough even this was revealed to be too much. It was with no small amount of despair that both the otter and jackal found themselves slipping away from one another, further and further, until they were barely finding enough time to open up a connection twice a week. It hit them both at around the same time as well; the last call they had was one where all they did was stare at one another, looking about as tired as one could be before turning into a walking husk. No words were spoken, because no words could help; only their presence, and even that was no longer enough.

Carla and Jack went to bed that night wondering what they could do. It had only been three months, and already their long-distance arrangement had broken down, or at least begun to break down. They could blame it on their jobs, and no doubt they would have an ample share of the blame, but the logistical difficulties of what they were trying to do were obvious; they couldn’t just ignore them forever and hope they’d never rear their ugly head.

Their one hope was that, at some point in the near future, their workloads would lighten enough that they’d get some more time for themselves; after all, Carla’s contract was already halfway done, so just as long as the couple could hold on for another three months, they could be together again! In fact, looking at it through that angle left both the jackal and the otter feeling oddly optimistic; it was shit, it was terrible, and they missed one another hard enough for it to be physically painful… but it was halfway there.

Every day they spent, even if it was one where they didn’t speak to one another, was a day closer to seeing one another again. The halfway point was crossed, and every second withstood was one second less they had to wait; this, this was what kept Carla and Jack going from that point forward, the knowing that all they had to do was just… hold on. It was going to hurt, that much they knew, but if they hurt for one another, if they hurt together, they could make it through; and then, in the end, they could go to that fancy Italian place once Carla got off the plane and threw herself into Jack’s no-doubt-waiting arms.

That night, both of them were lucky to have clear skies. While it wasn’t something they got around to frequently, owing mostly to the otter’s chaotic scheduling, they did occasionally enjoy walking out into the outskirts of town, picking a spot on the hills surrounding it, then lying down to stargaze. Neither of them were even amateur astronomers, but one needn’t know the names of the constellations above one’s head to appreciate their beauty.

Plus, it was a convenient excuse to get away from the hustle and bustle of the urban sprawl and get some alone time for themselves. Not that the walls of one another’s apartments were thin, but there was a difference between the silence of a town and the silence of the great outdoors. A blanket if it was cold, nothing but a tarp if it wasn’t, and one another’s bodies to use for warmth and protection; together, they’d stare out into the immense unknown, the inky void of the cosmos, and occasionally even wondered aloud whether there might be another Carla and Jack, staring back at them from an inconceivably large distance away.

That night, both of them looked up to see a perfect, starry sky. Even light pollution seemed to dim, just so they could have a glimpse of what was waiting for them once the two were together again. Carla was the first to spot it: a shooting star. She giggled, thinking what wish she should ask for; a silly exercise, but Jack was thoroughly convinced that it actually worked, and she was more than happy to humour him. The jackal, meanwhile, had his eyes wide open when he spotted the burning trail, and almost instantly brought his hands together as if praying, fervently wishing upon that falling star that he and Carla could be together again as quickly as possible.

A wish mirrored by Carla herself, who closed her eyes, let her head hang, then allowed a sigh to escape from her lips. She wasn’t superstitious, but… sometimes, someone needed something to believe in when there was nothing else, and though any unseen, wish-granting entity would no doubt take offense at her waiting until the last moment to pay her respects, Carla didn’t particularly care. She looked up, at where a burning trail of sparks was burned into her eyes, and wished with all of her might that she and Jack might see one another again, the sooner the better.

The universe, as it were, listened, though neither one of the two knew it by then. For Carla, it was back out of the broom closet and into the ER, hoping the night shift would go by without any major occurrences (unlikely); for Jack, it was going to bed before midnight for once, in preparation for yet another day of crunching numbers, punching numbers into data tables, and just punching numbers in general whenever he felt exceptionally irritated. Together, the two would’ve been happy to let the falling star be; apart, they could only wish the other one was close by in some fashion, that they knew what their wish was, that what they wanted most was just to be close to one another.

Coincidence, perhaps, that they should ask for it at the same time, with the same star, despite the sheer distances involved. An impossibility, maybe, but the cosmos didn’t much care for things being impossible; unlikely, sure, but never zero percent odds; and, upon being witness to such a magnificently improbable event, it only made sense for the two lovebirds to be given something in return, to be handed their gift on a silver platter.

Just not necessarily in the way they expected it.

Carla was the one who noticed it first, on account of still being awake and in the middle of a corridor, weaving between stretchers and trying her best not to go mad from lack of caffeine. Her clothes grew tighter all of a sudden, with the sound of cloth being torn apart filling her ears just a moment later; she had a couple of seconds to look down at herself and see as her body was spilling out from her casual wear before said wear was ripped into pieces by a stronger growth spurt, causing Carla to losing her balance and land ass-first on the ground… shaking the entire corridor as she did so.

Across an ocean, Jack was sound asleep when he woke up to the feeling of fever, coursing through his whole body. He felt cramped, the bedsheets pressing down on him with such strength that he could think to do nothing but push back against them, hoping maybe to be freed of his binds. How lucky, then, that he had enough power behind that one shove to send those things flying across the room, and how lucky he had become large enough that the sudden movement was enough to break down the mattress, the frame it was on, and a significant portion of the ground around him.

The hospital’s corridors erupted into a panic, as onlookers screamed while sprinting towards the nearest exit. No matter how often Carla tried to tell them that it was fine, that she wasn’t going to hurt anyone and they should all calm down, it was pointless; hell, even she wasn’t entirely sure that she was telling the truth, not when her body had suddenly decided to ignore the laws of physics and grow outwards absent any explanation.

Jack’s neighbours, meanwhile, were waking up to the wonderful tune of their building collapsing from the inside, as the jackal grew too large to fit in their bedroom, then their apartment, and then finally the whole floor he lived on. He barely had the time to process what was happening with himself before it began affecting the world around him; once he had one paw on the street outside and another poking through the roof of the apartment block, he’d all-but given up trying to come up with an explanation, assuming it had to be an exceptionally vivid lucid dream.

For Carla, the experience was far more akin to a nightmare. Her workplace was crumbling all around her, ambulance sirens were blaring outside as patients had to be evacuated, and there she was, growing. It was absurd, and for a precious few seconds the otter simply assumed she had to be hallucinating, until realising that, real or not, she had a duty of care, and standing around letting it happen without trying to minimise damages was not how she did things.

Having to stand up when her body was as enormous as it was turned out to be far simpler than first expected. In a way, it was almost like she was already prepared for it; like her body had always yearned to be that large, and was just now being given what it rightfully deserved. Dangerous thoughts to have, for certain, but thoughts regardless, and ones she was more than happy to indulge in once she found an empty stretch of the hospital, deserted apart from herself and her desire to break free.

Jack, to his credit, had thoroughly convinced himself that what he was experiencing wasn’t real. How exactly his brain conjured up such a fantastic replica of the real world, complete with tactile sensation and all, was anyone’s guess, but at least now he could play into a few of his size fantasies that he rarely got to indulge in. That… or he could walk.

It struck him, that if he was that big, and still growing to boot, then he could just walk to Carla. It was a dream, sure, but everything else was absurdly real, so it stood to reason that his precious otter should be painstakingly copied over as well; maybe he’d wake up later and tell her about all the wonderfully lewd things they got around to, maybe convince the real Carla to do some of the things she really wanted to, but felt too embarrassed to ask about.

The real Carla, who by then had already broken out of her cocoon and gotten busy walking down the nearest avenue towards the coast. She didn’t know why she took so well to becoming a giantess, nor even how, but she was riding a high and she wasn’t about to let go of it unless she absolutely had to. And while on the wave, while on top of her world, Carla had one goal: get back with Jack.

She knew what he was about. She knew what sort of devilishly scandalous ideas swam around in his head, where he thought she couldn’t see or guess the contents of. She knew he wanted her to be at least half as lewd as he was, even when she made it clear the thoughts were still too overwhelming for her to consider. But now? Possessed of enough height to sit on most buildings in the city and an endless hunger for more? Owner of a body that still seemed to be growing, despite everything she knew about physics telling her that this shouldn’t be possible?

Well, it was about time the two of them had a short visit, wasn’t it?

Those lucky enough to be watching from orbit would get a perfect shot of two dots appearing on the Earth below, two dots growing in width with each passing second, two dots that seemed to be moving towards one another. Those watching would see as these dots began to take on more recognizable characteristics: a head, two arms, two legs, a torso, bigger and bigger until their individual traits could be discerned, like fur colour or hairstyle. Those watching would see as the two giants dipped their paws into the ocean and still kept going, having left behind them a trail of destruction, literal pawprints visible from even that high up.

Those watching would baulk at the notion that what they were seeing was true… but eventually, those watching would have to scramble to get out of the way, when the two lovers grew large enough to accidentally bump into orbital installations. But, at least, those watching would get a perfect view of Carla and Jack embracing one another, throwing themselves into each other’s arms… just as those watching were exceedingly grateful for there not being a physical medium through which to propagate a shockwave.

Then again, plenty of energy to be released there, including of the horny variety. Maybe the two of them should’ve cared more; maybe they should’ve thought about what they were doing, outgrowing the planet. But they were together, at last, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered to them.

They’d gotten their wish.