Soon, Annie and Julie were sitting together in the Burger King on the way to the shops. Theirs was only a small town, a little array of houses and stores with only a couple of thousand residents and one small school, but there was an impressive choice of fast food places. This was their favourite burger joint though.
"Where's Madison?" Asked Annie, finishing up her burger and leaning back in her chair. She licked the grease off her fingers as she waited for her mom to finish her mouthful. A moment later, Julie replied.
"Your sister went for a run; she's a crazy kid." Julie rolled her eyes; voluntary exercise was a foreign notion to her, and indeed to almost every resident of the little town. There wasn't a single treadmill or dumbbell for 50 miles around, and despite how close together everything was you'd never see someone walking. There weren't even sidewalks on most of the roads.
"Weirdo." Annie muttered. Madison was four years older than her at thirteen, and was the only person she knew who ate salad voluntarily. Annie hated salad; she thought it boring and insubstantial at best, actively disgusting at worst. She really didn't understand her sister at all.
Soon, the two climbed back into the car and drove the thirty metres down the road to the shop, where they got out again and went entered. Annie grabbed a basket and started loading it with all sorts of cookies and chips and other unhealthy treats (though she ate that sort of thing so often it was hardly a treat anymore), while Julie began grabbing the more mundane things like bread and milk (full fat, of course; they didn't even sell skimmed anywhere in town). In no time at all they'd finished and paid, and the two climbed back into the car for the short journey home.
When they got back, the door was unlocked and a pair of sneakers sat next to the converse worn by the rest of the family.
"I guess Madison's home." Said Annie, bending down and undoing her laces, stomach gurgling with the sudden movement as it struggled to digest her breakfast.
"Uh-huh." Nodded Julie inattentively, having considerably more difficulty getting her own shoes off. Although only twenty-eight she was extremely large, and had a similar body shape to her daughter; as a result her midsection had dimensions akin to an overinflated beach ball, making shoelaces quite an ordeal. Eventually she just sighed and straightened up, rubbing her aching back. "Annie, get my shoes for me will ya?"
"Sure thing mom." The nine year old knelt down again, movement awkward because of her own oversized belly, and undid the knots with nimble fingers.
"Thanks." Julie said, kicking off the irritating footwear and following her daughter into the kitchen. Annie was a good kid, always helpful and hungry. If only she could say so much good about Madison; that girl just wasn't right in the head. She was incredibly thin, at least compared to the other kids around town, and did exercise for fun! Sighing, she went into the kitchen, bags of shopping in hand. Sometimes she despaired of her older daughter, she really did...
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