All across the nation, screens were lit aglow with the National News Network logo. Televisions, phones and tablets cast a baby blue hue across audiences everywhere as they eagerly awaited what many considered to be the story of a lifetime.
The voice of popular anchorwoman Nikki Rowe was cast over the stylized NNN, which cut away to footage of overweight midwestern citizens. Multiple shots of various people going about their daily lives, their faces obscured for protective purposes. But all of them were very, very fat.
A town with such a high percentage of obesity ratings couldn’t have simply cropped up overnight. These people had lived here for generations, but a simple internet article not long ago had pulled back the curtain on the flyover town of Conrad—a city where more than seventy percent of its population could be classified as morbidly obese. A whopping thirty percent of those were even larger than that.
It was just as simple as that—a simple town, one simple article on the internet, and everything had changed. Suddenly everyone had to know about this mysterious town. What was the reason behind everyone’s high weights? How did they function? What were their cultures and traditions? People were disgusted, revulsed, curious, or interested otherwise in this strange little town. For whatever reason, they couldn’t look away.
“For the Fat, by the Fat—this seems to be the way of life for the people in Conrad.” Rowe’s voice carried over the footage, “My crew and I went deep into the heart of the town that has taken America by storm with its curious outlook towards obesity and body positivity.”
“It’s just how things are done here, I guess.” One local woman, with her swaddling chins and heavy breasts, said in a mild sort of way before chuckling “I mean, ain’t nobody gonna make anyone feel bad about a little extra fluff ‘round here… unless they ain’t got enough of it.”
“My whole family’s always been pretty big.” Said a large man in his forties, his small mustache looking ridiculous on his round face and full lips, “I guess we don’t really stop to think about it.”
“For two months, my crew and I lived in Conrad, hoping to get to the bottom of this strange phenomenon.”
Nikki Rowe had always been a small woman. Petite and pixie-esque. A replacement for the woman who had aged out of the sexy reporter business not long ago. She had been a fan favorite not only due to her habit for hard-hitting exposes and deep-undercover practices, but also for her gorgeous looks and striking features. Among the pretty blonde sex kittens behind the desk and the distinguished, generic men who babbled placidly to their audience, Nikki Rowe stood out. Her absence on the air had been felt, and everyone had been eagerly awaiting her return—what they found upon her return was shocking.
”Who are you to come in and judge us for how we live our lives?” a particularly plump sophomore at the local community college, dressed in dark clothing with bright hair that framed her round face bellowed, “All anyone wants to do is judge me—judge fat people. End the body shaming, wake up America!”
Jumping back to the main reporter’s desk, jaws across the nation dropped as they saw Nikki Rowe for the first time in months. Gone were her slim jaw, her tight waist, and the tight T&A that had secured her the male 18-45 audience. In just two months, everyone’s favorite reporter looked to have put on fifty pounds of pure fat—most of it settling right in her belly.
But Nikki Rowe wasn’t the only one who had gone to Conrad and come back corpulent. People all across the nation, be they hesitant or hopeful that such a fat-topia could exist, had made pilgrimages to the sleepy midwestern city. And most of them, tourist or migrant, had put on at least some weight. Just not quite as quickly as everyone’ favorite reporter had.
“My time in Conrad has… leant me a few extra pounds.” Nikki admitted sheepishly, “I… I’ll admit that it’s all rather tempting. Everyone’s so friendly and warm towards you, even if you’re an outsider like I was. Or my crew.”
“It almost sounds like you miss it.” Kevin Timms, one of the other NNN reporters, said with a laugh as he eyed Nikki’s bloated middle with revulsion and amusement, “Get a little hooked on all that sugar, did ya?”
The other reporters gave him dirty looks.
“We never found the root cause of the town’s fascination with… well, with fat.” The plump reporter said to her colleague, and then to the camera, “But it’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.”
***
That was five years ago.
And since then, Conrad has grown immensely. The attention attracted by the constant news cycle attracted new businesses. Those created new jobs, and in turn, more people began to look at Conrad not as the latest internet fascination, but as a viable place to live and lay their hats.
People came. People grew. Conrad now has the fastest growing population in the country, in more ways than one…
But that's a story for another time.
More importantly... what kind of story are we going to be telling today?
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