Pig Mask

Jake could never have imagined what would become of him thanks to the mask, the muscle stud having bought it for a joke costume for a Halloween years ago. The idea came from something his friends would always tease him about making fun of the way he ate, the small bit of fat at his middle that he couldn’t get rid of, and, of course, his last name Piggins. His friends shortened it to just Pigg, the only thing they would ever call him.

Jake never thought he’d entertain the idea, at least, until the Halloween when he found the mask. It was at one of those pop-up stores that magically appeared before the holiday. Strangely enough, it was off-brand, one Jake had never heard of and having found it in the middle of a strip mall. Jake decided to head in to check for anything he wanted for the upcoming holiday.

Despite the small space, it was packed with masks and random Halloween costumes strewn about. The shelves and racks didn’t have any organization, and the store didn’t seem to carry multiples of the items either. That explained the mismatched havoc, but it only made the place more interesting. The masks had variety, some more detailed, some plastic with a band on the back. That was when one caught his eye.

It reminded Jake of a luchador mask. The material was foam-like, two thin ears stretching from the bald head, the front of which had a long protrusion as a snout. Despite the crude representation, there was no mistake that it meant to resemble a pig. It seemed too strange to be meant for a costume, but Jake couldn’t put it down. He felt like it was an embodiment of what his friends always called him, a pig wrestler.

He pictured it in his head: Wearing it on the wrestling mat, beating them all. He laughed when he pictured himself going sumo size, using his weight to pin them all down. The mask even had a hole in the mouth he could eat through. After all, that’s what his friends always joked he was. Jake Pigg.

He didn’t realize those thoughts were his own prophecy as he bought it that day, bringing it home from the store excited to show it off. Only when he entered his place did he realize he hadn’t even tried it on, having been too wrapped up in his thoughts. He shook his head amused, pulling out the headgear deciding to see if it would fit after all.

Everything changed when he pulled it on. As the mask covered his head, the entire world dulled, falling into the background. The material had covered his ears dampening his hearing, his eyes narrowly lining up with the slits and making it even harder to see. Yet, there was something more to it.

He felt like he had a first person view in someone else’s head. It was as if he was looking through the window of someone else’s perspective, his mind stuck behind the glass. He tried looking around the room and down at himself, his body following accordingly. Still though, why did he have the strangest feeling he was taking the backseat of his actions?

As Jake looked down at his body, something else felt wrong. While it looked exactly the same as it did before- thick muscles wrapped in his shirt, a nice fit build- he didn’t recognize it as his own. His hands moved to his body, running up and down its front. It felt like something was missing.

As Jake continued to feel himself he took a step back in his thoughts. Why did he think something was off? Why was he trying to feel something that wasn’t there? He tried brushing it off, deciding to take the mask off to figure it out.

His hands didn’t respond, only continuing to feel his body. He felt a flash of anger rush through him, emotions quickly rising. He grew confused. Why couldn’t he take the mask off? He tried again, but this time heard a strong response in his own voice: “No.”

Jake felt shocked. It took a moment for him to figure out where the word came from, until he realized he had spoken it out loud. That was when he finally started to panic, wondering what was going on. Could he not control his body anymore?

He attempted to stop his hands from running up and down his front- It worked that time. It was almost as if his body agreed with him taking that action. At least, for now. The next moment he felt his stomach growl, hunger quickly taking root in his core. “Eat” His voice said out loud, leading his body to move toward the kitchen.

Jake watched from inside his mind as his body moved without him. He reached the fridge and opened it, beginning to grab food from inside.

Chills ran up Jake’s spine as he realized what was happening. “No” Jake thought, trying to regain control. He wouldn’t let himself be a pig. He felt another flash of anger, his body ignoring his direction once again. He was helpless as he watched his hands bring the food to his mouth, immediately stuffing himself with whatever they pulled out. Meals he prepped for the week disappeared down his throat, leftovers he was saving for later vanished.

He felt his stomach start bloating, pressure building in his midsection causing his cut shirt to grow tighter and tighter. He couldn’t stop himself as he ate, feeling his body getting heavier and heavier with his belly pushing out. It wasn’t much, but in moments he had added a week’s worth of food to his body. It only ended once nothing was left in the fridge.

Jake crashed into his bed with a full belly, cradling it in his arms. It was almost painful. Jake was focusing on keeping himself from throwing up, trying to relax and let his body digest. He lay there in horror, the thoughts of what just happened eating away at him. Yet, there was another emotion too. He couldn’t help but feel satisfied, almost pride in having been able to eat so much in that time.

No, that wasn’t him, that was the mask. At least, Jake hoped it was the mask, horrified at his own emotions. He needed to get the item off somehow to prove it.

As if to answer, his hands lifted up to remove it.

The next moment Jake was back in the outside world, experiencing everything as himself. He quickly tossed the mask aside, suddenly afraid of it, before turning his attention back to his body in bed. He was still stuck there unable to move, absolutely bloated, but his sense of fulfillment remained. It was bliss being forced to lie there, restrained from moving.

“No” Jake thought, suddenly worried. He looked back toward the mask. Had it changed him? Had he just been imagining everything? His thoughts then drifted into worry, his mind unable to relax. He stayed there trying to figure himself out until the only option he seemed to have was to sleep it off and wait until he felt better. Only the. Did Jake allowed his wake to be taken by an uncomfortable rest.

As Jake slept, his mind replayed the events of the day over and over in his head. He dreamed of stuffing himself until he was huge, being unable to get up from the floor, feeding like a pig from a sty. In his dreams the mask was over his head the entire time, controlling his actions, forcing him to eat. It was easier having it on in those situations. It was better at being the pig he was meant to be.

Jake woke the next morning in cold sweat remembering the scenes that had played out in his head overnight. He tried to distract himself by getting ready for the day, hoping he’d forget them as he went through it.

His attempts only seemed to make the memories more permanent. He was stuck thinking about it all day, almost daydreaming, beginning to feed into the idea of putting the mask on again. What if he did? Would he be able to take it off again? What if he left it on entirely and let it take control of his life? And lastly, why had it felt so good? Jake questioned himself, unable to escape the thoughts, wondering if the mask could fulfill his desires.

The mask stayed on the floor where he’d left it as the week progressed. Jake couldn’t bring himself to throw it away. He didn’t want to admit it, but felt as if it were part of him now, like he needed it. As the month went on, the events of that day faded from his memory, leaving him wondering if it ever even happened.

As Halloween grew closer, the thought of the mask grew in his head again. He still needed a costume, after all.

Back in his room he picked up the mask. It seemed harmless, just an object lying on the floor. Why would it hurt if he put it on again?

Jake pulled on the mask before he realized what he was doing. In moments he felt his consciousness drifting into the background once again, his mind becoming thoughts in someone else’s body. Jake would have shivered if he could, but his body remained still, his mind locked out of the controls. Even then, he could feel everything the same.

Something immediately felt off about his stature. He knew it was his body, but something had changed since the first time he wore his mask. He felt as though he were encased in extra padding now, his body brushing against itself as he moved. His head looked down, instantly recognizing what had happened to it over the past few days.

His figure was bulkier, carrying extra weight in his torso. His pecs sat out further, and just under that crested the beginning of a belly. His arms were thicker with mass, flattened pressing against his thick lats. He didn’t understand how he couldn’t have noticed the new weight before, having lived in it for over the past week. The pounds he had ignored couldn’t have been more obvious in plain view.

Jake couldn’t comprehend how his body could have changed so much until he thought back over the past month. He had stopped caring about his diet entirely, forgetting about his rules, eating anything as soon as he was hungry for it. He shook his head. How could he have forgotten all his nutrition, only to remember them now?

A sinking feeling took his stomach. He remembered how he had kept the mask in his room, feeling as though it contained a part of him. The parts he had forgotten. The part he could only remember now, with the mask on his head.

He felt a familiar pang of hunger in his stomach, the same one he had when he began stuffing himself the first time. Worried he would end up in another eating frenzy, he quickly went to pull off the mask, surprised he was allowed to remove it. As soon as the gear was off his head however, he looked at it bewildered.

Why had he pulled off the mask? His heart was beating fast, worried about something. He was certain he had a reason to, having removed the item from his head in a panic, but now he couldn’t recall why.

He turned the material around in his hands, looking at it. He smiled as the face of a pig looked at him, recognizing what all his friends called him. It’s what he was, after all. He laughed thinking about the way he ate like a swine, not caring about what went into his body. How he’d been filling out like one lately, showing in his stomach as a spare tire wrapped around him.

Jake’s stomach growled again, reminding him of his appetite. He patted it, food immediately on his mind, wondering what he could make or order. He dropped the mask off to the side, getting up to continue filling his body, wondering just how much he could eat. The memories of his regime and strict diet were left behind with the mask once more, left to lie in wait until he put it on again.

It wouldn’t be until the Holiday when donned the mask a third time, preparing for the party of the night. His memories came rushing back instantly, Jake finding himself caught in the same situation as before.

He spent a moment looking at himself in horror at what had become of his figure. Once again he was trapped in a fatter body he didn’t recognize, unable to remove the mask. He wanted to pull it off right then, stop himself from going out that night, but the mask wouldn’t let him escape from the party. He couldn’t do anything other than to finish preparing before heading out to the location, dressed in clothes that barely fit over his larger frame.

He was frightened letting his friends see what had become of him, worried about leading them to think he had accepted his place as a pig. What was worse is what the mask made him do. He was forced to listen to their comments on his new size, unable to respond with anything but oinks and squeals. Jake was filled with horror hearing their words, unable to speak up for himself, acting exactly like the pig his friends all called him. He was forced to spend his night around the food trays to avoid further discourse, constantly stuffing himself with their assortments unable to converse with anyone else there.

Jake dreaded taking off the mask. He knew he could only feel the way he did now while he was trapped behind the it: able to remember himself, but at the same time being helpless to do anything about it. Without the mask he’d just forget himself, continuing to act like the pig he was now oblivious to the changes. But maybe that was better.

Maybe it was better to forget, Jake thought, to let himself spiral. He was happier without the mask anyway, eating however he wanted, not caring what happened to his body as he grew. It was little solace knowing that, but was enough for Jake to come to terms with his new self and get through the night.

That Halloween would be the talk of Jake’s friends for the rest of the year. They would laugh at how long Jake, now going by Pigg, had been holding out on them, the previously fit and muscled wrestler now filling out with pudge. Pigg laughed along, claiming he didn’t know why he hadn’t accepted it sooner. The pig mask would become a staple of Piggs Halloween. He would make sure to wear it every year, allowing his friends to laugh at how far he had let himself go.

Each year, Jake would remember with the mask on. He’d witness how much further he’d grown, how unwieldy his body felt, how his fat jiggled with his every movement. He’d feel the hunger his engorged stomach had learned to maintain, how much he’d need to constantly eat to feel satisfied. He’d feel how he’d need to heave his body around, struggling with the clothes that constantly popped off him, fight with the weight of his belly that swung with each step.

He’d be breathless, covered in sweat by the end of that night, filled with candy, sweets, and all the empty calories his friends were so happy to provide. They’d laugh in shock, telling tales of the first Halloween Pigg had with his mask, how he used to be a fit athlete with muscles popping from his body. Now he was a rolling ball of dough, each day a struggle to fill his ever-growing expanse of a body. Jake had no option but to sit and listen at the events, panting from under the layers of fat that wrapped him, hoping to escape and go home while the mask forced him to stay until the end.

Jake would lay in his bed after those nights, trying to recover, holding his stomach in his hands as he felt its weight pressing on him from his nightly fill. It was a struggle to take off the mask now, the material skin tight, almost impossible to get his pudgy fingers under. He would be surprised at how it still fit around the giant mound of fat that was his head, the neck of the mask managing to stretch around his enormous chin that connected to his shoulders. If he wanted to forget, he’d need to work at it. He knew though, he’d only come back the next year in an even larger body, an endless cycle that he felt even more hopeless in each time.