Posted by Sawney Beane on April 16, 2006 at 23:40:32:
The Collected Works of Sawney Beane: Volume #6
PORTRAIT OF A HOUSEWIFE AND HER HUSBAND
by Sawney Beane
24 - 27 August 1992
9,522 words
DISTRIBUTION NOTICE and DISCLAIMER: Sawney Beane requests that any distribution of this work of fiction remain within the realm of social responsibility. This story is suitable neither for minors nor for the seeming majority of adults who have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. It is pure fantasy, which means that, for whatever reason, someone has found it interesting to think about the events depicted herein. It does not in any way mean that the author would like to see this fantasy become reality, so if you are the type of person who might be swayed into doing something irrational by reading a work of fiction, the author respectfully requests that you decline to read further.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sawney Beane, originally a native of Edinburgh, lived for twenty-five years in a cave on the coast of County Galloway, subsisting on the flesh of unfortunate travellers, roughly a thousand of them all told. He and his wife raised a large family of eight sons, six daughters, eighteen grandsons, and fourteen granddaughters. Eventually, the family was captured, and the whole lot was brutally and unjustifiably tortured and executed without trial. Since his death in the early 17th century, Beane has reformed his ways and now confines his atrocities to his literary endeavours.
WARNING: This story contains scenes of snuff and consensual gynophagia. If you find such things offensive, please steer clear; you have been warned.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story might be better if it weren't so long and ponderous. I should have distilled this one down a bit more skilfully, but the idea is nice enough. Furthermore, this story is significant as it represents the first incarnation of my reluctant diner/eager dinner motif. I'm not sure why, but this situation really appeals to me as the basis for a story, and it recurs several times in my later works. It should also be noted that most of the political and social theories expressed herein regarding feminism do not match up well with my true beliefs, but in this and other early stories, I thought they were needed to set the appropriate scene. That particular section sounds very lame and awkward to me now, but I left it in.
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The man returned home from a long day at the office and loosened his tie with a weary sigh. He looked upon his loving wife with tired eyes. She stood beside the stove with a contented grin on her attractive face framed by long locks of dark brown hair. The man studied the folds of the pink satin bathrobe clothing her pleasant figure. It had been left carelessly untied at the waist to reveal her black bra and panties.
The husband stared appreciatively at the soft skin of her belly and imagined her embrace. She tottered on her crutches and hobbled the few feet between herself and her husband. As her arms encircled his neck he woke up and realized that there was something wrong. When the hug had ended, he held his wife at arm's length and exclaimed, "My God, Jennie, has it begun already!"
Jennie mumbled a shy, "Yes, I'm sorry, honey."
They sat on kitchen chairs to continue the urgent conversation. "I thought we talked about this and decided to wait another five years at the very least," protested the concerned husband.
"I know, Rob, but it's my thirtieth birthday. I'm getting old! We can't wait too much longer or it will be too late. My body won't wait for us to get around to it."
As she spoke Rob produced a small wrapped box from his jacket pocket and unwrapped it slowly and sadly. When she had said her piece, Jennie admired the diamond pendant in her husband's trembling hands. She took it and put it on her smooth neck with a kiss and a simple, "Thank you, honey, it's lovely!"
Rob stared disconsolately at the pendant as he pleaded with his wife, "Couldn't you have told me first? We could have had a final fling...taken a trip...had some fun first. I'm not ready!"
"You wouldn't have agreed to it if I'd given you a choice. Besides, I don't want to take a trip. I want to start it today. We'll have our fling in bed tonight!" she said, ending with a seductive glance, which her husband noticed, "Go wash your hands. Dinner's in five minutes."
The conversation was ended abruptly. Any further discussion would have been moot. The future was set for both of them. Commitment could no longer be avoided. Jennie returned to her stove, and Rob went to change clothes and clean himself up a bit before the meal.
Rob stared uncertainly at the food on the table in front of him. Across the table, Jennie began to eat her meal, a simple lettuce salad without dressing. Rob's meal was more troublesome. His hands grasped a knife and a fork firmly, but his mind reeled. Could he possibly bring himself to eat this? It looked quite tasty he thought with just a bit of revulsion. However, if he began this, he knew he would never be able to stop it.
Jennie looked up and smiled sweetly, "Eat up, hon, it's an old family recipe."
Rob looked at his food. The golden-brown piece of roasted meat had an unmistakable shape, which seemed out of place. It was a small, attractive human foot. As he prodded the meat with his knife, he felt another foot prodding his crotch. There was something else. It was not a foot but a smooth cylinder of warm flesh. Rob recognized the feel of his wife's severed ankle. She smiled as she discovered the familiar firm shaft between his legs. The body's reactions to sex, death, and food are often confoundingly intertwined.
Rob had always admired his wife's beautifully shaped feet, but was seldom permitted to touch them because of her extreme ticklishness. He half expected Jennie to fall on the floor in a convulsion of laughter as he rubbed the arch of her left foot with his knife. She watched closely as he stabbed with his fork the small piece he had dislodged.
"Well?" Jennie asked expectantly as her husband closed his eyes, shoved the end of the fork in his mouth, chewed slowly, and sent the tender meat to join the lump in his throat.
After a contemplative moment, Rob was ready to answer, "Very tasty." It was, in fact, quite tasty he noted without surprise. However, he knew full well that he would have replied the same way had the meat been vile. It's always best to be complimentary when a loved one serves her body parts for your dinner.
The rest was easier but by no means simple. The meal was quite long as he savoured each bit of his beloved's precious offering. He knew it was only the beginning.
When the last toe had been consumed, and Rob's plate contained only an array of small bones, which Jennie had examined with amused interest, he picked up his wife and carried her to the bedroom. He made love to her with an unbridled passion seen only rarely in the annals of sexual history. He knew his days with his love were severely limited, but he was determined to make them memorable. She was delighted with every stroke, kiss, and ejaculation. They loved each other dearly.
Rob and Jennie were not an unusual couple but, rather, the product of a peculiar evolution of legal, social, and gender-related issues.
After many long years of misdirection, feminists had realized that the liberated woman of the late twentieth century was not much of a development. In asserting their inherent worth and dignity, the aspiring women had modelled their place in society after that previously held by men. Women soon discovered that their new role was not as exciting as they had dreamed.
In the end, women were left with a few unappealing options. Some revolted and discovered that refusing to shave their legs served only to limit their dating prospects to the minority of males whose gag reflex was outweighed by their determination to appear open-minded. Such women were not favoured by evolution and eventually died out. Others cast off the associations with men and left for all-female communes in distant localities. Such Amazons were similarly selected against by evolution. The majority either clung desperately to their meaningless occupations without hope or drifted back to the home to resume their menial chores.
The two most significant aspects of human life are sex and death. Women found that they were incapable of conquering the former, so they took on the latter. How does one conquer death? Eternal life is impractical, time-consuming, and similar to conquering sex by abstention--not conquering at all but, rather, suppressing. The way to conquer death is to deny it its traditional right to choose the time, place, and manner or your demise. Death is beaten when a person chooses the circumstances of his or her own death and refuses to fear it, because the only power that death has is fear and uncertainty.
Unusual legislation provided the means for feminine victory. A powerful lobby and some unforeseeable chance occurrences allowed the bill to pass. While suicide was still illegal at all times for males, any woman over twenty years of age with no children under five years of age was permitted to surrender her own life at will in the proscribed manner. The beauty of the method was that the woman could conquer death and force her husband to participate. She controlled the end of life along with the end of sexual dominance.
Why would anyone ever choose to die just to prove their dignity? Pride is a powerful thing, but it was not the only reason for the popularity of the solution. The legislation was pushed through during a horrible period in human history. A great economic recession more serious than anything experienced in the twentieth century, a renewal of warlike tendencies, and ever-increasing environmental woes made life quite unbearable. The women of the day conquered the situation by leaving it. When better times returned, the popularity of the solution decreased, but it continued to be appealing to a large number of women. Of course, women were never unanimously flocking to kill themselves. At its peak popularity the number of women who utilized the method never exceeded ten percent, and the percentage was usually under two. Then again, there were always impotent men. Not everyone was cut out to be a conqueror.
The doorbell rang twice before Jennie could hobble to the door to answer it. She smiled as she recognized Dr. Anthony Puglasi, MD., amputation specialist and founder of Culinary Amputations, Inc., one of many small independent operations authorized to assist women in reaching their final goal. This was the doctor's second visit to Jennie's home. The last time she had been able to run to the door without the aid of crutches.
"How are you today, my dear," said the aging doctor to his pretty patient, who was dressed much as she had been the day before except that her underwear was now white.
"Fine," she replied amiably, "Come in, come in." She was eager to begin the day's treatment.
"How did he like it?" asked the doctor, who seemed to be in no hurry.
"He loved it after he finally tried it. It took him a while, though."
"That's perfectly normal. It's bound to be a bit traumatic for him, especially the first and last few meals," replied the doctor with a fatherly smile; "I did tell you yesterday that you looked perfectly sumptuous." The patient blushed shyly.
Jennie motioned the doctor to a seat in the kitchen and sat next to him. He explained in detail everything that they would do that day. Jennie was impatient to begin. They had discussed the entire process a week earlier in his office when she had arranged the package deal for a truly reasonable price.
When he was ready to begin, Dr. Puglasi helped his patient remove her bathrobe and climb onto her kitchen table where she reclined comfortably as he examined her left leg thoroughly. He spread a drop cloth on the floor to catch any errant blood and carefully washed both his hands and the smooth skin of the woman's calf. The doctor produced a syringe from his handbag. After making sure she was comfortable, he injected a clear fluid into a vein near Jennie's knee. In a few moments she could no longer feel her lower leg. The numbness eventually spread to her thigh and hip.
She felt her spine tingle with a strange excitement as her trusted physician offered her a blindfold. She accepted it. Jennie did not mind what was being done to her but watching it happen was a bit too much for now. After placing cotton balls in her ears, Jennie felt a calm complacency.
She began to notice every sensation in the unanaesthetized parts of her body. The sole of her remaining foot was tickled slightly by the slight breeze in the kitchen. Her heart beat with excited speed but reassuring regularity. She felt slightly cold in just her underwear, but she was not uncomfortable. The satin of her panties began to exhibit a warm wetness. Time passed for her in partial sensory deprivation. She imagined that she lived a lifetime in the fifteen minutes before her doctor pulled the cotton from her ears and informed her in a soothing voice that she could remove her blindfold.
When Jennie opened her eyes, everything was different but just as she expected it to be. Her left leg now ended just above her missing knee. The thigh stopped abruptly in a neatly sewn sheath of skin. To a viewer untrained in the normal macroscopic appearances of human anatomy, she looked quite natural. Jennie smiled as she spotted four equally sized objects at the end of the table. Three were wrapped in white paper, each marked with a number three, four, or five. The fourth was a somewhat bloody piece of flesh. Jennie recognized the meat as the lower third of her left calf.
Jennie climbed off the table and onto her crutches. She placed the three wrapped packages in the refrigerator and the piece of unwrapped meat in a dish in the oven. Then she accepted her robe from the doctor and noticed that it was now longer than one of her legs. She smiled her gratitude to the doctor, who kissed her cheek innocently and said he would return in four days for further treatment.
When the doctor had gone, Jennie sat down on the couch to rest while her husband's dinner roasted. She examined the truncated limb with dispassionate fascination. An hour later, the anaesthetic had worn off. Jennie still felt no pain, however, because her skilful doctor had burned the severed nerve endings with a special laser tool.
Jennie was awakened from a short nap by the sound of her parents and her only child clumping into her home. The ten-year-old Jeremy had been sent to live with his grandparents for the duration of Jennie's treatments. When it was over, he would be returning to live with his father. Jennie had expected the visit. Jeremy had to say good-bye to his mother. She concealed her severed limb beneath a thick blanket, but the child had learned more in school than he was supposed to have.
"Daddy's gonna eat you, isn't he," Jeremy demanded bluntly of his mother. She was surprised by his question and looked for help from her parents. They were both horror-stricken themselves.
"Where did you hear that, Jeremy?" the mother asked soothingly.
"Bobby told me it happened to his mommy two years ago," the child replied, "Chad says he's gonna eat Mindy when she grows up big and fat, but she says he won't either."
The true measure of a society's righteousness lies in the effect of a given social institution upon the society's children. This one still had some problems to iron out.
Jennie was confused. The doctor had explicated a soothing lie to feed to the child until he was old enough for his father to explain the truth to him. However, as usual, the formers of social policy naively assumed that the child did not, in fact, know the truth. The mother did not know what to do. She knew that the path she had chosen was right for her, but was it right for her child?
Jeremy tugged on the blanket, "Show me your leg, Mommy!"
Jennie refused, but the child ran to the kitchen and opened the oven. He immediately recognized the cylinder of flesh and returned victorious to the living room.
The mother finally came clean and explained the whole thing as well as she could to her insistent child. It took many more minutes of persistent whining to get her to exhibit the shortened leg. The grandparents were more shocked than the child. Jeremy took the whole thing bravely and was fascinated by the surgery.
The visit was fairly brief, but the farewell was lengthy due to its finality. The child held his mother tightly for the last time. Jennie's parents kissed her and told her that they were proud of her. She smiled weakly.
Jeremy cried all the way back to his grandparents house. The grandparents shed tears through their pride. Their daughter's victory was not without cost to her friends and family. For the first time, Jennie cried softly into the blanket. Only her own child could make her doubt destiny.
She had recovered completely before her husband returned home and consumed a part of her calf. He was still hesitant but much less so. Their passionate lovemaking that evening matched the previous night's spectacle.
The next three nights were no different. Rob ate two more pieces of his wife's calf and then her knee. It was all delicious, and it was all followed by great sex.
Jennie made her husband eggs for breakfast on the morning of the sixth day. She was in a good mood because her doctor was scheduled to arrive a few hours later. Rob remarked that the eggs were the best he'd ever eaten. She explained that she had fried them in grease leftover from the previous night's meal. She took a peculiar pride in the fact that she had thought to use her own body fat in such an innovative way. It went a bit beyond the prescribed procedure. Jennie was creative.
Dr. Puglasi arrived at ten o'clock. Jennie was eager to see him. The day's treatment was similar to the doctor's previous visit. However, this time she had to remove her panties as well as her robe. She was not embarrassed; the doctor had seen it once before. When it was over, Jennie admired the nine packages arrayed along the edge of the table and the unwrapped piece of meat on a plate near her right knee. She discovered with fascination the further alteration of her physiology. Her left thigh ended about an inch after it began.
The spacious region, which had once contained an attractive leg and the numbness of Jennie's pelvis, made her feel somewhat light-headed. She gazed dreamily down at the shiny moisture clinging to her pubic hair.
The doctor kissed her cheek before promising to return in ten days and taking his leave. Jennie went about the business of the day.
Rob attacked his meat as quickly as Jennie assaulted her salad that evening. He was starting to get used to the bill of fare. He continued to love his wife and dreaded the day when it would come to an end. Nonetheless, that was no reason for him to refuse to enjoy the high quality food along the way.
As Rob arrived at his office on the morning of the seventh day, Todd Dilger, obnoxious office clown, approached him with a sly grin on his face. Rob could not escape in time. "I hear you've got a woman you can really sink your teeth into!" Dilger exclaimed with a knowing wink, "I guess you're really putting her in her place with your pearly whites."
Rob answered quietly and noncommittally as he made an excuse to leave. A few men still clung to their age-old habits of mapping macho attitudes onto feminine strength. However, everyone knew that such attempts were vain and empty. Jennie was in control, and even Todd Dilger knew it.
On the sixteenth day, Dr. Puglasi brought a strange contraption along with him. Crutches would no longer be enough. The patient wiggled her toes nostalgically as she was helped onto the kitchen table. The day's surgery left Jennie blissfully lacking in feet. Her left leg had not existed for ten days, and her right leg ended at the ankle.
The doctor helped Jennie into her new source of mobility. Her waist was fastened into a padded metal band, which supported her upper body in an upright position. The lightweight metal frame held her securely above the six small wheels at the base of the mechanism. The machine usually kept Jennie's eyes at their normal height, but a small joystick near her left hip allowed her to adjust her elevation from within reach of the floor to several feet above normal. She could now reach higher than ever before. A second joystick near her right hip controlled her horizontal motion. Jennie drove herself smoothly around the room with childlike glee. The quiet motors near the floor were not disruptive. Fortunately, Jennie's home contained no stairs or she would have needed a more complex model.
As Rob devoured the last of Jennie's toes, he knew he'd miss her beautiful feet. The first leg was easier to eat than the second because there had remained a back-up copy of everything. The second time around Rob felt a definite sense of loss. The delicious taste kept him going without a decline in enthusiasm. He thanked his wife for the meal by removing her from her metal scaffolding and making love to her all night long. She appreciated his method of repayment.
By the time Rob had finished his dinner on the seventeenth evening, Jennie's remaining leg had been truncated above the knee. Three pieces had entered the refrigerator, and a fourth had entered Rob's happy stomach. Before the night's entertainment, Jennie asked her husband to invite nine friends to dinner four nights later.
Rob protested the decision, "I want you all to myself, love."
Jennie smiled, "I know, but you won't lose that much of me, and it's an important part of the standard procedure. Please, it's important to me that we do this right."
Rob was still dissatisfied; "I don't want to end it nine days earlier than we have to. Let's take it slow. I'm going to miss you terribly."
Jennie smiled tenderly, "I'll make a deal with you. We'll have the dinner party and then wait nine days before continuing with the treatment."
Rob finally agreed to the compromise and swept his wife off her wheels. This was becoming easier and easier to do because she weighed much less than her normal one hundred ten pounds. Hers was the most effective of all weight-loss plans.
Dr. Puglasi was in a good mood on the twenty-first day. So was Jennie. "Farewell to legs," she laughed as she removed the blindfold for the sixth time. Her right leg matched her left leg for the first time since the treatment had begun. All ten pieces of her right thigh went into the oven.
The doctor stayed longer than usual to help Jennie prepare for the long-awaited dinner party. He helped her into the bathtub and out again after a thorough cleaning.
She put on a long skirt that concealed the mobility device quite thoroughly. Only the smoothness of her walk betrayed her artificial support. She could operate the joysticks through the thin cloth of the skirt. The doctor helped her into a white lace bra and her best blouse. The completed outfit was complemented with makeup and jewellery. The doctor left her with words of encouragement and a soft kiss on the forehead. Jennie smiled comfortably.
Rob arrived at six o'clock and kissed his wife lovingly. "You look perfect," he remarked with a hug. Jennie smiled proudly.
Fifteen minutes later the guests began to arrive. The nine men brought along seven wives. Each of the women flocked around Jennie and admired every aspect of her being. Two younger women were taking notes for their own future, but the four women older than Jennie and one of the three younger ones thought that admiring her courage was about as close as they wanted to get to the strange ritual. Jennie knew several of the women well, but others were strangers. All of them fawned over her all evening.
The nine men spent the evening telling Rob more times than he could count that he was lucky to have such a beautiful and gutsy wife. Rob was proud of her but not so thankful. Three of the four husbands of the older women were wishing that their wives would take the plunge. The husbands of the younger women were looking forward with mixed emotions to the day their wives would tell them it was time. The two unmarried men longed for a love of any sort. Todd Dilger was not invited. No one liked such people any more.
After appetizers consisting of crackers and cheese dip, Jennie announced that dinner was ready. The seven women had their choice of salad and pork chops. One fat older woman opted for both. The men each discovered a golden-brown steak on their plates. Jennie smiled happily throughout the meal as a result of continual female adulation and male remarks about the taste of the meat.
When the last bite had been swallowed, Rob's boss announced that he had tasted nearly a dozen women in his fifty-seven years including his first three wives, but Jennie was the tastiest of them all. As he did so, he discreetly pinched the arm of the shy twenty-one year old flower beside him. The pretty young woman thought with amusement about the likelihood that her spry old husband would outlive her.
Another guest, Rob's unmarried best friend and golfing partner, submitted the theory that Jennie's relaxed attitude toward her treatments was the cause of the tenderness of the meat. Others nodded assent. Everyone was happy when the party broke up and the guests departed. Many of them had just eaten the best meal of their lives.
Jennie spent the next nine days searching for something to do. She began to regret her compromise with Rob. However, the evenings were filled with passion, and the days eventually passed. Rob discovered that the beef and chicken he was obligated to eat for nine days did not taste as good as it once had. However, he deemed the substandard food worth tolerating in exchange for nine more days with his beloved.
The patient greeted her doctor with all of the exuberance of a happy puppy on the morning of the thirty-first day. He arrived with a pretty blonde nineteen-year-old girl whom Jennie did not know. The girl's arrival was expected, however.
"Today we begin the second phase of your treatments, my love," announced the physician, "Are you ready?"
"Yes, let's get on with it," she replied with a little bit too much enthusiasm. The doctor did not comment on her eagerness.
"This is Rebecca Swift," Dr. Puglasi explained as he gestured toward his young assistant, "She's here to help you until the end of your treatments. After today, as you know, you'll have trouble doing many things by yourself. Becky can get you through anything you need help with."
Jennie nodded and welcomed her new helper. "Have you done this before?" she asked with a smile.
"You're my seventh," Becky replied. She liked Jennie's confident and kind demeanour, "You're the prettiest."
Before the day's treatment began, Jennie showed Becky the sofa-bed in the spare bedroom and helped her unpack her small suitcase full of belongings. Becky seemed comfortable in her new surroundings.
The trio returned to the kitchen for the day's business. Jennie removed her robe and pink bra before her two companions helped her onto the table. She watched the clear fluid leave the syringe and enter her left shoulder. In a few minutes, her arm went numb. Jennie shivered in anticipation as Becky tied the blindfold around her head and stuffed her ears with cotton. Her sensory-deprivation induced musings were as thrilling as ever and the lowest part of her body grew moist as usual.
When she regained the power of sight twenty minutes later, the only evidence that she had ever had more than one arm was the short line of a finely stitched seam. Four wrapped bundles and a severed hand adorned the edge of the table.
Jennie thanked her physician as he left, and Becky prepared dinner. The patient rested on the couch in her underwear. The robe was no longer easy to wear.
She was sleeping when Rob returned home from work. He introduced himself to Becky, about whom he had been informed earlier, and sat on the floor next to his sleeping lover. He gazed at her strangely shaped body for several minutes. Then he began to stroke the former source of her left arm. He was amazed at the lack of concern she always showed over her frequent truncations.
Jennie stirred as her husband kissed her cheek and neck. She awoke smiling. She felt wonderful. Rob helped her into her substitute legs and draped the robe over her shoulders.
Jennie had no trouble eating her salad with one hand. Becky ate with the couple at their insistence. Rob tried to remain happy as he picked the meat from his wife's left hand and wrist. The recognizable parts were always the hardest to stomach.
The following four days saw the consumption of Jennie's forearm, elbow, and two meals worth of upper arm. Jennie grew happier every day, while Rob's frequent pleasures were invariably tainted by a persistent feeling of loss and dread. Becky admired her client's behaviour. She never seemed to have a day of depression and uncertainty as most women in her position occasionally had.
On her thirty-sixth day, Jennie awoke early and awaited the arrival of her physician for hours. When he arrived, he greeted his excited patient with a kiss on the cheek.
Dr. Puglasi pulled the cotton from her ears and informed her with a chuckle that now was the most appropriate time to quote Hemingway titles. Jennie saw the truth in the statement when the blindfold had come off and she had gazed down at her limbless body.
As she looked between her bare breasts, Jennie saw her purple panties on the now familiar unnatural end to her body. She turned her head left and right to see two shoulders serving only as corners for her torso. There was nothing extending from them as was customary. The right shoulder was still numb.
Jennie smiled at her physician and her attendant. They were amused by her careful physiological observations. The doctor helped Jennie into her mobility device, and Becky fastened the purple bra around her chest. The robe hung loosely over Jennie's shoulders. Unfortunately, Jennie was now unable to operate the joysticks at her sides, so Becky's responsibilities increased.
Over the next five days, Rob ate the last of his wife's limbs, as Jennie was fed by her helpful attendant. Her wedding ring was no longer wearable and had to spend its time on the lamp table beside their bed.
Rob discovered that sex was quite awkward with a partner of such reduced weight and lacking in the necessary equipment to hold herself down. He had to contort his body to hold her and prevent her scooting across the bed with every push. She laughed at him frequently. After two days of discomfort, he discovered that a rope tied loosely around her waist and fastened to the foot of the bed helped matters greatly.
Jennie's limbless body spent most of its time on the couch watching television or chatting with Becky. The woman, possessing nothing but a head and torso, would have looked quite pathetic had it not been for the perpetual smile she wore on her face. Her obvious happiness obviated any pity for her unnatural predicament.
Jennie and Becky became good friends over the days. Jennie learned that she would probably be Becky's last client. Becky was engaged to a lawyer and would be getting married in six months. As soon as she was no longer needed in Jennie's home, she would begin to prepare for the big ceremony. Becky planned to hire Dr. Puglasi in about ten years. He had assured her that he would temporarily come out of retirement for her.
The doctor returned on the forty-first day and kissed his patient lightly on the lips. "Ready for phase three, love?" he asked with a reassuring smile that Jennie appreciated but did not need.
"Yes, I'm ready," she laughed, "What can we get rid of today?" She already knew the answer, but it did not concern her.
On this day, Jennie did not have to get out of her mobility device for the surgery. Becky removed the red bra and Jennie's robe. Jennie watched her breasts move rhythmically with her breath. The doctor placed one hand under the left breast and felt its warmth as he injected the anaesthetic into Jennie's body. She again opted to use the blindfold and cotton. It was over in a few minutes.
This surgery was even more arousing than previous treatments. Her lavender panties were fairly dripping from her excitement when she opened her eyes. She saw that her body was once again asymmetrical. Beside her right breast was nothing but a horizontal seam.
The missing mammary was to be found on a dish on the table. The doctor left the two women with compliments and kisses for both. He touched his lips to the remaining breast of his best patient as he departed. She was not offended. There was something in the manner in which the charming man pulled off the manoeuvre that made it seem innocent.
Jennie watched with fascination as Becky's well-trained hands sliced the detached breast into thin circular pieces. She did not feel the least bit morbid as she saw her body part manipulated and disassembled. She had grown used to the experience while watching her husband devour her limbs piece by piece.
Rob found his wife asleep on the couch naked save a pair of moist panties, earrings, and a diamond pendant. He traced the seam in her chest with his finger and a touch of sadness. He licked her remaining nipple in an effort to forget the number of days he had left with her. His tears dropped onto her breast and ran down her side.
Jennie was amused when she awoke and saw her husband. "Let's not get too eager," she laughed, "We have to save that for tomorrow night."
Rob managed a smile through his sadness and carried his wife into the kitchen. Becky was just finished frying the husband's dinner. He looked uncertainly at the tall stack of fried food.
Some women have to have both of their breasts removed on the same day to keep their husbands from starving. Jennie's single offering was an ample meal for Rob.
He ate the nipple last. After placing it in his mouth, he savoured it for nearly five minutes. It was as if he was afraid to chew or swallow the morsel. Perhaps this was the unconscious result of previous experience with this particular part. He'd had it in his mouth many times before, but until now, Jennie had frowned upon his chewing it.
Rob was getting used to making love on the changeable terrain of his wife's body. However, the most recent amputation left an uneven playing field and the tendency for Rob to slip off to his right. Nonetheless, their lovemaking lasted longer than ever. Rob paid special attention to the remaining breast. He was very fond of his wife's breasts and was sad to see them depart.
The forty-second day saw Jennie's temporary return to symmetry. Rob savoured every bite of the right breast and counted the days sadly. Clothing became less and less necessary as Jennie steadily lost things that needed to be covered. She examined each of her bras as she directed Becky to put them in a paper bag for donation to charity.
The doctor returned the next day to continue Jennie's treatments. Jennie waited eagerly as she was placed on the table and anaesthetized. Her usual blindfold and cotton were affixed in place. When she was returned to all of her senses, she had to strain to see what was missing. As expected, a large triangular piece of her left shoulder was lying on the table near her. She could barely see the seam, which ran from the base of her neck down her sloping side to the end of the seam in her chest.
Rob cried as he chewed the meat from the end of his wife's bisected collarbone. She tried to cheer him up, but the extent of her emaciation and the shortness of time left were too much for him. He had also had a bad day at the office.
On the forty-fourth day, Rob felt better. He managed a faint smile as he cleaned the meat off of a small piece of Jennie's right shoulder blade. She was symmetrical again. Jennie left the pendant on her night stand because she did not like the way it slid down the sloped surface of her shoulderless sides.
"Now we're really getting down to the serious business," warned the doctor on the forty-fifth day, "Phase four is usually hard to take for all involved."
"I bet phase five is harder," Jennie smiled.
"I'm sure you'll handle it with your usual grace and charm," replied the physician. He had butchered more women than he cared to count, but Jennie's composure even in the final stages stood out. It was not the case that most women got hysterical every time he arrived to slice and dice them. They had all considered the decision carefully before hiring him, but almost all showed some measure of doubt at some point in the process. Jennie's complacency during the last week of her life made many whole people seem ridiculously petty.
Jennie was placed face down on the table, and Becky slipped off Jennie's blue panties. The blindfold was used but unnecessary. All of the action was behind her.
While Jennie lay sightless and soundless with the lower half of her body anaesthetized, she imagined herself whole again. She wiggled her fingers and toes. She touched her nipples and shoulders. She ran around the house. It all seemed so foreign to her now. Her dream seemed unnatural. Jennie was almost relieved when Becky removed the blindfold.
Beside her on a platter, Jennie saw a strange flattened hemisphere. It was covered with soft white skin, which Jennie examined with interest. The small mound was pliable to the touch. Jennie had never seen her left buttock so clearly.
The doctor showed her the vertical seam in her posterior with a mirror. Then he carried Jennie to the couch where she dozed peacefully. Dr. Puglasi took the wheeled walking machine with him as he left. It was not doing Jennie much good anymore.
Rob found his wife completely naked and lopsided. She awoke as he knelt beside her. "What do you think of me now?" she asked softly.
"I love you more than ever," he replied with a blank expression. It was the best he could muster.
"I'm sorry I'm going to make you unhappy," she said sincerely. She lacked a smile for the first time in many days. She was still untroubled by her own situation but did not like the effect she was having on her loved ones.
He carried her into the kitchen. He ate slowly and stared at his wife the whole time. She tried to cheer him up with jokes but failed for the most part. The sexual terrain that evening was more challenging than ever.
The following day, Dr. Puglasi again restored Jennie's symmetry. To avoid the recurrence of imaginations from the previous day she decided to brave the sounds this time and refused the cotton when it was offered. Because there were no bones to sever, the operation did not sound terribly unusual. Most of the sounds were tools being placed on the table and soothing remarks from her surgeon and attendant.
Observations in a mirror when it was over revealed that the familiar shape of her rump was completely gone. In its place was a smooth curve of skin from her lower back around to her genitals disturbed only by two parallel vertical seams. She remarked that she was becoming quite the seamstress. She now sported eight such marks.
Rob found her on the couch reading a letter from their son. It was written in nervously printed red crayon.
Dear Mommy,
Good-bye. Grandma and Grandpa explained to me what you're doing. I don't understand all of it but they said I should be very proud of you. I am but I will miss you very very very much. Please tell Daddy to tell me about it when I get home. I want to know why you made him do it to you. I know you love me. Please don't go unless you have too. Tell Daddy I want to go to the circus and get a slushy in a tiger cup. I wish you could go to. I love you very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very....[six pages of "very"s]....very much. Love Jeremy.
The letter contained a post script from Jennie's parents wishing her well and pledging their joy and pride at her strength and ambition. Jennie had a tear in her eye when she finished. She dictated a motivational, educational, sensational, loving farewell note to Rob for her son. When he was finished writing, he carried his beautiful but abridged wife into the kitchen for another dinner. Jennie required a complex arrangement of cushions to prop her up in her chair. She regained her perfect composure before he took the first bite. Sex was easier that evening, but Rob needed to put a pillow under her vacant rear.
The forty-seventh day came much too quickly for Rob's liking but much too slowly for Jennie. The doctor came around noon and placed his patient on the table.
"Well, we're almost done," said Dr. Puglasi, "Are you ready for the next step?"
"Yes, whenever you'd like to start, doctor," replied the confident Jennie.
"As I've told you before, Jennie, when we get this close, there's a lot of risk involved," warned the doctor, "You could die today."
"I'll try not to," she joked, "My husband would not want to miss it."
Dr. Puglasi took the blindfold from his case. She refused it. She wanted to see at least part of what was happening to her. She was getting braver. The doctor warned her that it might be unpleasant to watch, but she remained committed to watch.
Becky assisted the doctor and tried to soothe the patient. Jennie did not need much help. She watched as the doctor marked with a felt-tipped marker a line along the left edge of her pubic hair, around the tip of her pelvis, and below her inch-long thigh. He used a scalpel to sever the anaesthetized flesh. After a few minutes, Becky handed him a small electric saw. The sound of steel on bone as the tool cut her pelvis was enough to make Jennie flinch.
Eventually, the piece fell off into Becky's hands as the doctor hurriedly repaired the violated flesh. The nerves were deadened permanently with a single brush of a hand-held laser. The blood vessels were sewn and the skin pulled tight around the wound. The entire process was remarkably quick. Jennie rested on the couch while dinner was prepared.
Rob enjoyed his wife's left hip. The state of her body was alarming to him, however. She felt fine but could not do very much with herself. Sitting erect was something of a challenge. It did not matter. She wouldn't have to put up with it much longer. Rob had to be very careful while making love to her, but they both enjoyed it nonetheless.
Day forty-eight was similar to day forty-seven. The right hip was removed with Jennie watching. She was much more relaxed this time.
She was becoming more streamlined. When it was done, her genitals occupied most of the narrow plateau forming her lowest extremity. From here her sides sloped up to the waist. Her flattened chest marked the beginning of her sloped-in sides, which approached her neck. Her face, genitals, and navel were the only parts remaining that disrupted the perfectly smooth curve of her body.
Rob enjoyed this day's offering, but the storm clouds of Jennie's impending death surrounded his thoughts. He released his mental torment in passionate sex.
Rob took the day off work on the forty-ninth day. The doctor did not come. This was a day for Jennie and Rob to enjoy a final bit of togetherness. They spent the day talking, touching, and reminiscing. They also made love several times throughout the day. Late in the evening, Rob penetrated his wife for what he knew to be the last time. He made the best of it.
After they had done all they could physically stand, Jennie complimented her husband's performance, whispered expressions of her love and devotion, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Rob could not even convince his body to doze off for ten minutes. He gazed sadly at his wife as she slept soundly through the last night of her life.
Jennie woke early on the fiftieth day. She was excited and waited eagerly until the doctor arrived at four o'clock. Rob did not work on that important day, of course.
Jennie had her husband carry her into the kitchen when the doctor arrived. The physician had serious words for the couple regarding the day's program. When he was done lecturing, he began to produce tools from his bag. Jennie opted to forego the blindfold this last time, but Rob wished it had been offered to him. He also wished he could hold his wife's hand.
Dr. Puglasi carefully shaved the hair belonging to Jennie's lower extremity. The small clump of black curly hair was placed in a plastic sandwich bag and put aside after Jennie had examined it thoroughly. Rob sat near his wife's head and tried to avoid watching the surgery.
Once Jennie had been anaesthetized, the doctor began to cut an incision around the woman's external genitalia. This surgery was more complex than previous amputations and required nearly an hour to complete. When it was over, Jennie's uterus, ovaries, and vagina rested eerily on a platter. In their place, Jennie's body was packed with a soft material to prevent bleeding. The skin was sewn with thicker threads than usual. A small bow adorned the end of the seam. Jennie's state was less stable than on previous days. With the current physiological situation, she could not expect to live long.
Jennie smiled as she looked at the extracted organs. Rob nearly fainted. Soon, Becky had the meal in the oven, and the foursome chatted casually while they waited for the meal.
At six o'clock, Rob was served the disturbing dinner, while the doctor and Becky ate salad. Jennie declined to eat. Rob took his time with the food. He had tasted part of it before but had a great deal of trouble swallowing.
Halfway through the meal, the Dr. Puglasi humbly asked to taste the gourmet entree he had harvested. Jennie nodded assent, and Rob handed over a small piece of the uterus. The doctor made a big show of complimenting his patient.
When the feast was finished, Jennie urged the others to action. The doctor and attendant made the necessary arrangement with a touch of sadness. Rob was downright distraught. Jennie was nothing but giddy with excitement.
When everything was ready, Jennie was on her back on the floor. Beneath her was a large sheet of plastic to protect the carpet. Rob sat cross-legged with her head resting on his lap. The doctor and Becky, who had already said good-bye to their patient and thanked her for her wonderful attitude, took up positions on either side of her.
"I'm ready now," said Jennie with a deep breath, "Please do it now, Rob. I love you."
Rob kissed his wife and declared his love for her. He also begged her to change her mind, despite the fact that he knew she would undoubtedly die within twenty-four hours regardless of any treatment given her. Rob bent to untie the small bow below his wife's navel. His symbolic duty done, Rob returned his attention to Jennie's face.
The doctor sombrely removed the stitches in his patient's lower body. When the wound had been reopened, he carefully pulled the red-stained packing from her recently-created body cavity. Jennie began to bleed, but this did not seem to bother her.
Becky placed a wine glass under the opening. When it had filled with thick red fluid, she handed it to Rob. He hesitated until Jennie gave him an imperative look. He closed his eyes and drank.
The bleeding woman felt little pain as her life drained away. It took several minutes for her to feel the effects of her blood loss. Jennie began to feel weak as her husband opened his eyes and dropped the glass while wiping the blood from his lips. He kissed her again. She could feel the sadness in his touch.
The doctor and Becky ceased to exist in Jennie's mind. As far as she was aware, Rob was the only witness to her demise. She felt tired and longed to embrace sleep. Her eyes fluttered slightly before closing. She lost consciousness and died peacefully. A contented smile remained on her face.
Rob's tears dripped onto his wife's chin as the doctor pronounced her dead. Becky comforted Rob while Dr. Puglasi carried the corpse to the kitchen table. A few minutes later, Becky walked to the kitchen to assist the doctor. Rob remained to contemplate the bloody plastic covering the floor of his living room. He idly traced Jennie's name on the sheet with his finger.
Rob walked senselessly into the kitchen and took Jennie's severed head and neck from the edge of the table. He slumped in the corner and morbidly kissed the lingering smile as the others dismantled and wrapped the remainder of Jennie's body. He had never been so sad.
Rob woke up alone. He yelled in frustration at the top of his lungs. He raged against society and its cruel sense of humour. What had his wife gained by dying? Why was she so unconcerned about the matter? Jennie had done more than most could ever hope to achieve in a nihilist world. She had died well. Death is a duty that everyone must face sooner or later. Most people carry it out very sloppily.
Rob cringed as Becky served him his dinner: the remains of his wife's pelvis. It tasted good, but the emotions that came with it were vile.
Rob returned to work on the fifty-second day. His dinners in the following days became easier to take as time went on, but mealtime was always depressing.
Rob was served two days of Jennie's loins, the muscles of her abdomen with navel attached, six days of barbecued ribs, Jennie's breastbone, two days of shoulder blades, and three days of her spine. One the sixty-seventh day, Rob began on his wife's internal organs. He was served her large intestines for two days, her small intestines stuffed with miscellaneous bits of her flesh for three days, her pancreas and spleen for one day, her liver for two days, her lungs for two days, and her heart for one day. The last bit brought him more sadness than he had felt in many days.
Another ending neared for Jennie as her grieving husband consumed the soft flesh of her neck on the seventy-eighth day. Becky had spent the last month consoling the unwilling cannibal when he was home and reading bridal magazines when he was away. Now she prepared for her impending departure.
Rob stared sadly at his meal. The recognizable parts were still the most difficult. Jennie's smiling countenance gazed up at him through sunken, closed eyelids. Rob pried one eye open and looked through the vacant socket at the back of Jennie's skull. The shaved head looked much different than Rob remembered it. The primary difference, aside from lack of hair, was its lack of eyes and brain. The smile remained the same.
Rob began with the smile. He chewed off his wife's lips because he could not stand to see her grinning at him. This was the longest meal yet. When it was done, Rob held his wife's skull in his hand. Her perfectly aligned teeth seemed to smile at him. Rob placed the tormenting bone on the table and stalked to his bedroom. He cried all night long.
Rob saw the eightieth day with mixed emotions. On the one hand, his long torment would soon be over. His role in Jennie's demise would be played out and off of his shoulders. On the other hand, Jennie would soon be gone forever. There was not much left, but Rob dreaded the despair that would accompany the realization that he had consumed her entire being.
Becky placed the last meal before him with a sympathetic smile. Rob reluctantly began by inserting his fork and knife into the soft tissue of Jennie's brain. The taste was unusual but not entirely unpleasant. The emotions Rob experienced were. Much later, Rob stared at all that remained. The sole occupants of his plate, two brown-irised eyeballs stared back. Two bites later, Jennie was gone. Rob cried and cried.
Becky spread Jennie's bodily remains across the kitchen table the next day. Rob studied the array of small bones, the skull, the small bag of curly black hair, and the large bag of straight brown hair. Everything but the skull was soon returned to a box and stored in the bedroom closet. The skull was displayed on the mantelpiece as tradition dictated.
Becky collected her belongings and departed graciously from the home. Rob sat in the living room and stared at his new decoration. Jennie was gone. It would always be hard to grasp for him. Rob spent the entire day this way.
By eight o'clock he was feeling lonely. He picked up the phone reluctantly. He could not believe his own audacity as he dialled the number of his office's pretty young Asian-American secretary. Rob had abruptly stopped flirting with her eighty days earlier. He was obligated by law and tradition to remain celibate for a full year from the date of his wife's death. This did not preclude dating if intercourse was avoided. Jennie had frequently encouraged him in the last days of her life to find a new woman quickly. He did but could not believe it.
The beef he ate for dinner that night tasted horrible to his spoiled palate. He soon got used to it again.
Five months later Becky was married to her lawyer fiancée. Rob presented her with Jennie's diamond pendant as a wedding gift. He had promised his wife that he would.
Becky died at the hands of Dr. Puglasi nine years after her wedding. She thought of Jennie frequently as she lost weight rapidly. Her composure was not quite as perfect as Jennie's, but her experience with the procedure allowed her to behave admirably.
Jeremy grew up without ever fully understanding his mother's desire to die. However, he did not hold it against his father and remained close to him until he died. Jeremy married at age twenty-three to a girl two years younger than himself. Her name was Cheri, and she was committed to living a long and joyful life. Jeremy was quite satisfied with the situation.
Rob's boss began to consume his fourth wife on the day after her twenty-fifth birthday. She had been prepared to begin on her twentieth birthday but had had second thoughts and delayed until she was convinced that the path was right for her. She handled her demise with admirable poise. She was the boss's best-tasting consort. The boss was outlived by his young fifth wife.
Todd Dilger died in an automobile accident three years after Jennie's death. Only his mother and secretary mourned the loss. His mother was distraught because she was his mother. The secretary was concerned only by the dearth of work his death created for her. Society was no longer an ally to such obnoxious sexists.
Chad married Mindy when they were both twenty-two. Mindy had always been fond of the boy but had been playing hard-to-get. She decided to die soon after her thirty-second birthday. It took Chad nearly six months to eat her because she had grown up bigger and fatter than he had expected. She weighed nearly three hundred pounds before her initial amputation. Her meat was tough, and she complained the whole time. Chad regretted his life's choices.
Rob married Laura Lau the day after his imposed celibacy ended. He felt guilty about it but knew Jennie would have wanted it that way. She was impossible to disturb. Laura was twenty-six on her wedding day. She surrendered her life at age thirty-six. Rob loved his second wife dearly, but she was much easier to eat than Jennie had been. She was small and tender. Rob cried when she was gone.
The veteran of two wife-eatings searched for a third wife with a zest for life. Unlike his boss, he did not enjoy losing the beloved women in his life even if it meant he got to savour their flesh. Linda Topper proved a disappointment. After only two years of marriage, the thirty-one year old woman's elaborate life plan dissolved, and she insisted upon beginning treatments.
Rob struck gold with his fourth lover. Yolanda Dade lived up to her prenuptial assurances of longevity and lived with her husband for twenty-seven years. They died together when their home burned to the ground in the middle of the night. The couple was trapped together in the burning house's living room. Rob clung desperately to his wife's fifty-two year old body as he watched the three skulls on the mantle crackle in the flames. His own seventy-nine year old body did not last long in the inferno.
Rob and his four wives, none of whom left much in the way of bodily remains, were commemorated with a row of five gravestones in a nearby cemetery. Dr. Puglasi was buried three rows behind them.