The New Procedure

Twenty-four year old Jenna walked in the mall looking at all the different stores and seeing all the display Items in the windows. Then she crossed a clothing store called The Rave. In the display window she observed her pear shaped, overweight body then quickly looked away. She sighed as she watched the slim female figures browse through small tube tops, spaghetti strapped shirts and short shorts. Jenna looked down and slowly shook her head.

“It’s not fair,” she said to herself.

She continued walking until she passed by a health food store. She approached a display with numerous diet pills. On the every packet were slogans like “Lose weight fast!” or “Guaranteed to work!”   

Jenna Sneered at the display and thought out loud “What they don’t tell you is they only work on certain people and that they can harm the body or get you addicted. Humph, It’s just a stupid moneymaking machine.”

She noticed a small flat screen TV advertising a new exercise machine. “Yeah, yeah out with the old in with the new, they’re all the same hard to use contraptions.”

Then a greeting came from behind her.  “I agree.”

Jenna turned around and saw a tall man in a grey suite. “If there were only a safe and easy method that is not physically taxing or comes in a pill package.”

“I’d say you were a liar. There is always a catch,” she replied.

The man pulled out a photo of an overweight man in baggy pants and a loose shirt. “Behold: a man at age twenty three about eight years ago.”

He then pulled out another photo with a perfectly slim man with a beaming smile giving two thumbs up. “And here he is today-all without pills or exercise.”

“What’s the secret?” Jenna asked.

“It is a new technique in its beta stage. It is yet to be released to the public. The question is: are you interested?”

What could it hurt? If I do not like it I can walk out the door.” She thought.

“Okay, I’m in,” she agreed.

“Very good. Go to this address. Our office is opened on Mondays through Fridays from nine to five.” The man then gave Jenna a card and walked away.

She stood staring at it in curiosity. “Have I finally found an answer?”

She put the card into her pocket and then made her way out of the mall and to her car. She drove home anxious to find out what this new procedure was.

At her house she decided to go the very next day on her day off from work. She drove to the address early in the morning at 8:30am to be the first one there. The building was large with revolving doors at the entrance. The front desk was of marble and there was an indoor waterfall beside it. She addressed the clerk. Hello, my name is Jenna Perkins, I was told to come here for a special weight treatment.

“Go through the oak door to the left.” The clerk said.

Jenna waked through and met the man from the mall. “Good morning. Now before I speak of the procedure, you must sign this waver saying you will not disclose it to anyone and that if any problems come up, we will not be held responsible.”

Jenna hesitated, but pushed back her doubts and quickly signed the waver.

“Come this way,” the man said as Jenna followed him into a large room resembling a patient’s quarters. “My name is Lex by the way. The doctor will be in soon.”

Fifteen minutes later a man in glasses and white coat partially baled walked in”

“I will spare you formalities and get right down to what will be done to you. You will orally take special hormone liquid that contains a tapeworm egg.”

“Ae you crazy? That is disgusting! No way!”

“Would you go on with life as you are?”

Jenna stopped to consider. “How long will the tapeworm be in me?”

“Until you reach the desired weight and no longer. Then the hormone will sustain your desired weight ”

“Okay.”

“Very good. I’ll get the solution for you to swallow.

The doctor left the room and came back with a clear plastic cup with a blue solution that Jenna quickly took.”

“That’s it. The effect will come in about three weeks. Come back when you’re ready.”

For the next three weeks she weighed herself every other day. At around the projected period she saw she was losing pounds little by little. Soon she had lost thirteen pounds in one and a half weeks. By the end of three months she had reached ideal weight.

When she could, she went to the clothing store and gleefully tried on all the slimmest tops shorts and bathing suits. “I made it! It worked!”

The next day she returned to the office to have the worm removed. Getting rid of the worm took a special solution to kill it. With the last part of the procedure done, she skipped to her car and drove home. As the weeks went on, she noticed small amounts of fat were continuing to be lost so she phoned the office.

"Hello Doctor, this is Jenna. For some reason I’m still losing weight. It is t a minor latent effect? Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Goodbye."

However Jenna’s concern turned into full-fledged worry as she started become so thin she could not fit into a size five. She was also feeling very week so that lifting a five pound dumbbell was taxing. Jenna went right to the office and barged through the oak door.

“Look at me! I’m an anorexic!”

The doctor had her drink more solution and told her to wait it out. She drove home and fell on the couch crying. She called work and said she would be sick all week. In five days she gripped her stomach in excruciating pain and slowly breathed her last.