Balance of Nature 6

By Nomdreserv

The beach proved every bit as bad as David had feared. Barb asked him to carry the cooler, which taxed his reduced strength to the utmost, forcing him to carry it in front of his body using both hands, and in an almost staggering gait. He stumbled along, his oversized beach sandals flopping awkwardly, while Barb handled the blanket, chairs, and shoulder bags without even trying.

He was wearing sunglasses and a hat to help disguise himself, and one of his T-shirts that came to knee level. The hat hung past his ears, and the glasses kept slipping down, but David figured they were worth it since he’d look like a kid to casual inspection, keeping attention to a minimum. He tried to ignore the fact that even Stevie’s trunks were loose on him.

Barb, on the other hand, was stopping people dead in their tracks – and loving it. She stood out as a six-foot tall, toned and muscled amazon, with huge breasts and a full, firm ass, both barely contained in her too small bikini. Each step emphasized the cords in her strong thighs and sculpted calves, and her enhanced biceps were shown to advantage by her easy carrying of their supplies. The men stared openly, with either open-mouthed appreciation or suggestive smiles, while their girlfriends glared. The women who were alone seemed threatened as well, some looking her over jealously, while the others suddenly seemed to shrink or cover up to hide their own lesser bodies self-consciously. Barb, meanwhile, simply smiled regally here and there to acknowledge their awe.

They found an open spot. "This OK?" Barb asked.

"Anywhere," David agreed, panting and arms aching.

He gratefully heaved the cooler onto the blanket Barb spread. They both sat down, Barb feeling rested and happy, and appreciating the glorious view and weather, and David feeling exhausted and conspicuous. Barb rooted through the bag and pulled out the sunblock, then turned to him.

"Are you going to take off that silly hat and shirt and get some sun?"

"No," he replied, pulling his hat down.

"Then at least do me," she ordered, tossing him the lotion. She then lay down on her stomach and stretched out.

And what a stretch. David gaped at seeing her huge, incredible body laid out like that. Her legs alone seemed to go on forever, looking almost as long as his whole body, and immensely strong but still with womanly curves. Almost with trepidation, he squirted some lotion onto his hands and started to rub it on her. Her skin was soft, yet the muscles beneath felt firm and hard beneath his tiny hands – he was barely able to indent them when he pressed. He worked his way up those amazingly toned legs, marveling at the diamonds of her calves, and the strong bulges in her thighs, even allowing himself to push a bit beneath her suit to caress the firm swellings of her ass. That brought an appreciative moan, and then Barb reached around to unhook her bikini top.

Seeing her bare back and the hint of her exposed globes from the side were enough to cause his cock to stiffen under any circumstances, and with the aphrodisiac still coursing through him, his reaction was even stronger. Ordinarily, he would have tried to take advantage of the situation, and try to warm her up as well, maybe even for some erotic play in the water, but he was desperate to avoid any more shrinking, so instead he tried to will his erection away and concentrate on covering her back with sunblock.

It was hard to believe how broad her back looked and felt to him. It seemed to stretch out like a table under his massaging hands, and the muscles stood out even in relaxation. He actually climbed on top of her to better reach her upper back and her strong shoulders, also wide beyond belief, and finally finished with the bulging contours of her upper arms. Her biceps were hard beneath his fingers, and he massaged them in awe.

"Mmm, that’s nice," she murmured. "You have such a delicate touch now. So soft." She wiggled her butt against the erection she had felt. "Except there. We’ll take care of that soon, if you’re lucky." A long sigh. "But not right now. I’m going to relax for a bit."

She closed her eyes and rolled him off her, as though he were a fly to be shooed away. David was left to squirm self consciously in the glare of the afternoon sun, hoping his erection wasn’t obvious. Luckily, they didn’t seem to have attracted too much attention so far.

Well, correct that. He hadn’t - most people had dismissed him as a preteen kid - but Barb continued to draw lustful or jealous stares from the people around them, more openly now that she seemed to be settling in. David noticed the tell-tale angling of the men’s sunglasses – enough to get a good view without looking directly at her and risk angering wives or girlfriends. Even so, several conversations suddenly became rather one-sided on the female side as more and more male brain cells were recruited to the task at hand. Worse, he noticed several groups of errant guys had moved their base of operations closer to them, and their intent was obvious. One group played an exaggerated game of football that required many grunts and yells to emphasize how strong and manly their exertion was. Another group relied on throwing a Frisbee, which seemed on the surface to leave them at a distinct disadvantage. Though in their defense, it must have been much more difficult than it looked, since it required them to stand around flexing and stretching a great deal in between tosses.

As the play drifted ever closer, David felt a rising sense of panic. He knew it was only a matter of time before the football or Frisbee "accidentally" found its way onto Barb’s blanket, giving the guys an opportunity to express their utter amazement that there was a woman on the beach as well. And what would he do to warn them off? It would be bad enough to be discovered and held up to ridicule, but he imagined the figurative sand-kicking-in-the-face that would inevitably follow would be worse.

Assuming it WOULD only be figurative.

He suddenly decided a little walk would be in order. After a hurried explanation to Barb, he started down the beach, leaving the players to their well-rehearsed games. Maybe a little exercise could clear his mind, and help him settle back towards something like normal. He walked along the water’s edge, keeping his eyes down. Occasionally, he heard muffled comments from surprised or confused beachgoers who noticed the strange figure he made, but he only pulled his hat down tighter.

Ordinarily, he would have indulged himself with ogling the scantily clad beach babes – where else does a man have the chance to openly stare at women parading around in clothes more skimpy or revealing than the underwear they would scream at being caught in public elsewhere? It never ceases to amaze - and delight - the author, at least, and it is a cherished right of every male beacher.

But today, everything was off. He tried, really. It was a tribute to the Y chromosome that he did indulge just a little. And there were some excellent bodies on display, but somehow, it wasn’t the same. There was something disconcerting about looking at women almost twice his size, that he couldn’t get into it. Part of it was a general discomfort at his plight. Part was also knowing the disdain they would hold him in if they caught him looking. There were certain rules to ogling – one was that you couldn’t obviously stare at someone clearly beyond your league, and right now, that was everyone.

It did at least present a novel vantage point, and he found himself noticing much more about the women’s abdomens and behinds than usual. His new size also had the advantage of making just about every woman’s breasts seem huge – and most were nicely presented at about eye level. He could stare at their breasts without being obvious. Well, obvious for a man, anyway.

Several times, however, he caught himself inadvertently staring at the much younger girls in their early teens, at least until their age became obvious. He knew it was his brain’s automatic attempt to look at women closer to his own size – though even the 12 year olds were taller than he was – but it still left him decidedly uncomfortable. He decided to keep his eyes to the ground and enjoy the waves around his feet instead.

His lowered gaze almost let him run into a small girl digging random holes in the sand at the water’s edge. She was about six years old, wearing a colorful, cartoon print suit. She looked up at him from her crouched position.

"Hi, I’m Anna. You wanna play?" She clearly had no idea that he was older.

David was flustered. "I, um…"

She stood up, and his heart jumped to see that she was nearly his height. His size was emphasized every time he got close to another person, but he had almost gotten used to that among adults. Somehow, seeing this young child close to the same height left him even more self-conscious. She looked at him expectantly, then her eyes narrowed.

"Your face is dirty," she observed.

David reached up reflexively, then realized what she meant. "No," he explained. "That’s just my beard. I didn’t shave today."

Her face wrinkled. "Boys don’t got beards. Only daddies got beards."

"Then I must be a daddy," he rejoined, in a flash of childlike logic.

This seemed to confound her for a moment, but she recovered. "Uh uh. You’re too little. Little kids can’t be daddies."

"Well, I am," he insisted hotly.

"MOM!" she screamed, turning for support. "This kid says he’s a daddy. Make him stop!"

If David had hoped to keep a low profile, this wasn’t the way to do it. All nearby eyes swung upon them, and he heard the immediate low babble as people whispered about him to each other. Worse, snickers and laughs began to mix with the whispers. He turned, blushing fiercely, and walked quickly into the water to get away.

He hurried, hearing his nemesis wade in after him, and kept at an angle that took him away from that part of the beach. He moved knee deep into the water, to hide his legs, hoping he would look more like a child than a tiny man to casual inspection. He heard the girl call after him, and took a more direct course out. He knew she could follow to whatever wading depth he chose, but hoped her mother would intervene about letting her wander too far from their camp. Sure enough, a stern, maternal voice called her back. David was relieved, even when she heard her admonishing Anna about going near that "strange, little man."

David waded past his waist, ignoring the way the soaked shirt clung to him. He tried to head to the sandbar he usually favored, but realized he’d have to swim for it today since it lay in deeper water. He looked jealously at the normal sized teens and adults swimming and floating in the water out there, and determined that he would prove he was just as capable as they were. He reached chest depth, and floated a bit as the waves picked him up, riding them up and down. This was actually sort of fun. And at least the water treated him the same way.

No, even that wasn’t true. A larger wave came along unexpectedly, washing over his head and knocking him off his feet. He lost his hat and sunglasses, but much worse, the undertow pulled him out towards deeper water. He slammed into the bottom, and kicked frantically to the surface, where another wave immediately lifted him and swept him along helplessly. He found himself moving farther from shore and was now over his head when he tried to stand. He had misjudged the dropoff point thanks to his reduced height. And swimming was much harder – not only because of his much reduced strength, but because the waves and water were much rougher to someone his size.

This instilled a low sense of panic, but he kept calm enough to force himself into a steady swim, even if his strokes were a bit frantic and hasty, not to mention hampered by his oversized shirt. He made ground slowly, his arms already beginning to feel the strain after just a minute, but at last he reached walking depth again. He struggled back towards shallower water, realizing that even the normal swells were closer to an actual surf at his present size. Twice more waves nearly pulled him under, until at last he reached waist depth and felt safe. He had no desire to further test his weakened muscles against them. As he reached the beach, he almost collapsed in relief and exhaustion.

And looked up to see a bronzed beach god sitting on the blanket next to Barb.

The man was probably no older than about 20, about 6 foot 4, and with the triangular upper body of a weight trainer. He wore mirrored shades and a baggy suit which revealed more than it should since he deliberately bent his legs to expose his heavily muscled thighs. He was laughing and talking with Barb, who seemed perfectly at ease. At least she had the decency to put her bikini top back on.

Ignoring the man’s intimidating size, and feeling a rage fueled by jealousy and a near escape from danger - that Barb had evidently missed entirely - David stalked over, dripping and shaking, to stand by them. The mirrored shades swung his way, along with an annoyed expression.

"Can I help you, kid?"

David ignored him, addressing Barb.

"I could have drowned out there. Didn’t you see me?" His voice was high and whiny thanks to his emotional stress.

Barb looked up in genuine surprise and concern. "But, David…"

"Hey, kid," the man intervened angrily. "That’s no way to talk to your…sister?" he finished hopefully.

David’s fists clenched, and he turned towards the other man. "She’s my wife!"

The man’s jaw dropped, and he looked from one to the other in disbelief. When Barb nodded, he looked more closely at David, only now noticing the adult lines of the face and the unshaven chin. Now, his eyes changed from shock to contempt.

"No way." He looked again at the chiseled goddess next to him, then at the tiny, scrawny and outraged figure that dripped on the blanket. "You? And…HIM?"

David took a step forward. "Why you…"

Barb stopped his ill-conceived assault effortlessly, using one hand. "David, calm down. Brad and I were just talking. I’m sorry I didn’t see you in trouble, but you’ve always gone off on your own. It never occurred to me you’d be so helpless without me."

The verbal rebuke stung more than the physical he’d been expecting. He fumed silently.

"As for you, Brad," she continued, in a more melodious voice, clearly reluctant to entirely switch off flirting mode. "I enjoyed our conversation. Thanks so much for the invitation. It sounds really…um, interesting, but I think we have other plans for tonight." She gave David’s behind an obvious squeeze.

Brad shook his head in disbelief, again looking David squarely in the eye in an unspoken and condescending challenge. The fact that he could look him evenly in the eye while sitting down only further added to the sting.

"You don’t know what you’re missing, babe." He let his gaze sweep briefly and dismissingly to David’s clinging, wet suit and crotch. "Think about it. And I meant what I said about working out together. If you ever get tired of boys and want to try a real man, give me a call."

He stood slowly and leisurely, all but daring David to hurry him, then winked at Barb. Looming like a giant, his six-pack abs mockingly eye level, he actually patted David’s head. "Nice to meet you, Davey. Better keep a closer watch on your wife there. I think she’s more woman than you can handle." As he walked away, he actually kicked up a small shower of sand that caught David on the leg.

David choked in fury and started after him, Barb restraining him with a single finger and thumb holding his shirt.

"Calm down, David. Nothing happened." She effortlessly pulled him onto the beach blanket.

David gave up fighting her grip and sat sullenly. People around them stared openly.

"It could have," he groused.

"David," she laughed. "I can take care of myself. Especially now." She flexed a softball-sized biceps. "Did you know Brad there only presses 200 pounds for his reps? Hell, I bet I could double that."

David heard a camera click at her biceps pose. It only served to feed his anger, as did the whispered comments he could hear from the neighbors, now that they had a better look at him out of his disguise.

"Don’t laugh it off!" he ordered. "And don’t ignore me. I don’t want you talking with any other men, do you understand?"

The last bit was delivered in such a high-handed and demanding tone, made even more insulting by the boyish pitch of his voice, that Barb immediately stiffened and looked at him coolly over her dark glasses.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I did," she admitted slowly. "I just couldn’t believe it." She took off her glasses and eyed him coldly. "Now, you listen to me, little man. I’ve put up with years of your openly staring and flirting with women when we came to the beach. Oh, don’t bother trying to deny it. I’ve watched you. Well, now it’s my turn. Suddenly, I’m the center of attention. I look fantastic and I feel better. I like that, and if it happens to get me a little more attention from people, that’s just fine. Turnabout is fair play."

"You’re only getting attention because you’re a freak," he shot back, hoping to wound her.

She was unmoved. "You think so? Brad didn’t seem to – he seemed quite taken with my new look. So did Lance and J.C."

He went pale. "Who?"

"Oh, just another couple of guys who stopped by while you were gone. They asked me if I needed any help babysitting."

His face went back to an angry red. "That’s it, get your things. We’re going."

She slowly put her glasses back on and lay down. "No. We’re not."

He stood up angrily and pulled on her arm, of course to no avail. It was like trying to move a mountain. In fact, using all his strength, he couldn’t even keep her arm off the ground when she pulled it back.

"Come on," he insisted. "I want to leave now."

"And I don’t. You do the math," she retorted.

He sat down glumly, hearing more whispers and snickers from the people around them.

"Come on, Barb," he pleaded, his voice going even higher. "I hate this. Everyone’s staring, and I look ridiculous, and there’s nothing for me to do, and…"

She cut him off. "Oh, be quiet. Do you have any idea how childish you sound when you whine like that? And it makes your voice all squeaky. Now, relax, or go play, or something." A malicious smile. "I know. Why don’t you go try to find that blonde you were flirting with last week? She certainly seemed fascinated with your…personality. After all, size doesn’t matter, does it?" A snicker. "Well, maybe just a little. But she might be the motherly type and not care."

Silent fuming. He seemed to feel every pair of curious and disbelieving eyes directed at him, and had a desperate urge to get away. Ordinarily, he would have simply stalked away, but that would mean parading up and down the beach like this, even worse now that people had noticed him. Ideally, he would have driven away, leaving Barb to find her won way home as a punishment, but that was impossible – he was the one trapped and being punished.

Hopelessly, he hunched down next to Barb and looked around sullenly. Some more men seemed to have pitched their towels to gain better views of their blanket. He heard one make a loud comment to his fellow, "Maybe she had a flat. You know how they never include a full-sized spare." There was a round of guffaws, but even worse, Barb started to chuckle. David was utterly humiliated.

"This isn’t fair," he whined, trying to keep his voice down. "I would never treat you this way. Just because you made me too small to drive, I’m stuck here while…"

She sighed heavily, clearly annoyed beyond patience, and cut him off. "You really want to go home?"

He brightened. "You know I do." He started to pack up the towels, but she stopped him, instead pulling the cell phone from her bag.

"Fine. I’m staying. You go wait up at the drop-off area. I’ll call you a ride."

He protested to no avail, and finally accepted. It was better than hearing the laughter that had started to spread around them. Ignoring the faces that swiveled and comments that followed him as he walked up the beach (e.g. "The water must be cold today."), he reached the parking lot and waited impatiently.

Unfortunately, a group of children running towards the beach got into some roughhousing, and before he could avoid them, he found himself flattened by a seven year old who had stumbled while running. The ignominy of the child’s so easily knocking him over, not to mention finding him a couple of inches taller when they stood up, made David’s temper flare again. Even first graders could overpower him! This was intolerable.

When he reprimanded the children angrily, they laughed and ran away, but then stopped to taunt him. He even heard the boys in the group discussing whether they could beat him up. David ignored them, but then his heart really sank. Their comments had drawn the attention of a group of 12 and 13 year old boys loitering by the snack stand. As a group, boys this age like nothing better than someone to tease and torture, thereby establishing their inherent superiority in the scheme of the universe. In David, they had an adult authority figure more than a foot shorter than them, dressed in a child’s swimsuit, and obviously miserable. In other words – target practice. They yelled at him (not unlike the hounds baying to signal the sight of the fox) and started to saunter over while David tried to move away without showing the fear that now filled him. He looked around desperately to see if the cab had arrived yet. It was nowhere to be seen. He started to walk away more quickly, which just made the boys pick up their pace. They fanned out to keep him from cutting back to the more crowded parts of the lot. This was going to be bad.

Just before the boys got near enough for more than verbal jabs, a car squealed to a stop in the drop-off area in front of him. The passenger door was pushed opened and a woman called from the driver’s seat.

"Hey, Shorty, I hear you need a ride."

David’s relief at his salvation was short-lived.

The woman was Jessica.

End part 6