Natalie was fat, ugly and lonely. That's how she described herself - and that's how most people would describe her as well. She was short and stubby, one of those women with broad shoulders and strong neck, yet hardly any breasts at all: and her hips seemed to have vanished somewhere underneath the fat that was hanging loose from her belly. She had short, plump fingers and toes, strangely yellowish thin hair and tiny ears. And her facial features didn't really make the package any better. In preschool her classmates had asked her if she was related to a pug; at that age Natalie had very little idea of how mean people (and especially kids) could be, so she had taken it as a compliment. She thought pugs were quite cute, after all. A bit strange looking with their bulgy eyes, but cute nonetheless. It took her years to realize that the kids in preschool hadn't meant the comparison as a compliment. She really did resemble a pug - and nothing about it was specifically "cute."
Her mother had always tried to make Natalie feel better about herself. And it worked for some years; but puberty hits even the prettier creatures, and in Natalie's case it hit fairly hard. Her unappealing looks became even more noticeable, and it became impossible even for her mother to lift her spirits. There was no way out of it: Natalie was ugly. And that's how it would be.
Natalie never tried to overcome her bad looks, like some people do. She never had any major objectives or goals in life, nor did she possess any great interest towards anything in particular. She had slowly succumbed to the idea that for some, life would always be something ungratifying. She didn't really hate her life - moreover, she had an attitude towards it that spoke only of neglect. When she had first understood she couldn't do anything to her unpleasant appearance, she had stopped trying. She ate what she felt like eating, disregarding the fat and sugar, and after a few failed attempts at the local gym she had stopped working out as well. Even if she miraculously would have managed to lose some weight, she could never reorganize her misfitting body parts and facial features. So she lived her life the only way she knew how to. Although she didn't like books or reading, she worked at the city library as a librarian; she enjoyed the fact that it was always nearly empty there, and silent as a tomb. Besides, during the evening shift that she had, there was only one other librarian: that meant they had their breaks at different times, so nobody would ogle at her weird selections of food she brought with her.
Days in Natalie's life passed almost unnoticeably. They reminded one another so much that she couldn't really tell if it was Monday or Thursday. When the weekend came, she would go to the supermarket and buy as much food as she could imagine eating in two days. Usually, she underestimated the amount, of course. As she had nearly no social life at all, she would spend Saturday and Sunday sitting on her huge couch, watching mindless movies and TV series past midnight. There was nothing exciting about her life at all, but as she didn't know of anything better, she seemed quite content. The beautiful, dashing people from movies didn't make her feel envious, although on occasion she would have to switch channels. Especially if there was a Julia Roberts movie on. Everything always worked out for her, Natalie had noticed. And of course it did. She was pretty and thin. Fat and ugly people weren't supposed to achieve their dreams - or dream to begin with. Nice lives were for the beautiful ones. She had learned that much about life.
One Friday afternoon Natalie was working on the library alone. It was almost closing time, and the endless, book-filled corridors had emptied almost an hour ago. Even if she didn't ever truly feel happy about anything, there were a few moments she managed to feel slightly better. This moment was one of them. Sitting in that huge space filled with countless books she suddenly felt small - a sensation she rarely had. If she made a small sound it would echo in the halls; that would give her a feeling that she was tiny and feeble. Surely, she wasn't. But the books didn't know that.
At 9PM she took her coat and performed the usual late shift ritual - checking all the sections to make sure no one would stay behind closed doors during the weekend - then shutting down the lights, and finally closing the big wooden doors behind her, after double checking that they were properly locked. It was cool outside, the first winds of autumn were approaching and the leaves had started to fall off the trees. It was mid September: where had the summer gone? she noticed herself thinking. And why did it even matter? It's not like she had ever cared much for summer. It was merely the time of the year when she would need to dress more lightly, and she had never enjoyed showing off her body. It was summer when the kids and teenagers would start making their rude comments, and even the older people would look at her with pity and repressed mockery. So, this would do good. She could start wearing her shapeless winter clothes soon. People would still see that she was big, but they wouldn't be able to see any ugly details.
Just a week before her car had broke down. She lived only half a mile away from the library, but due to her overweight she preferred driving to work. She was a slow walker and even a tiny bit of exercise would leave her out of breath, not to mention that she would have had to walk among other people. It was nicer to just sit inside the car and spend minimum time outside with other human beings. And once she was inside the library, there would be only a few of them bothering her during the whole day. Thank God for internet, she often thought - nobody borrowed books from libraries anymore. All the better for Natalie.
The sun had set some time ago and the dim streetlights were slowly turning on. With a deep sigh, Natalie started off towards home; and more importantly, the supermarket, which was on the way. She could have taken the bus but at this time on a Friday evening it would be full of teenagers - she would literally do pretty much anything to avoid being in the same space with those creatures. But at the corner of the library - already a bit out of breath - Natalie heard a strange sound. Other people's argues and fights didn't concern her most of the time, but there was something different about these noises. Something seemed to be wrong.
There was a bunch of kids at the alleyway behind the library. They were screaming and laughing and shouting out senseless profanities. First Natalie thought they were fighting amongst themselves and she was nearly going to walk away - but then she noticed something lying on the ground. Her heart skipped a beat. Were they beating up someone? It was a group of four, five kids, and all of them seemed to be quite young and small; but nevertheless, if there was an assault going on, she'd need to stop it. Natalie didn't like teens or kids, much because of her sour experiences in childhood, and also because of the way they still treated her - a fat freak with ugly eyes. And they were never afraid to tell her that. But this was different. If something bad was going on, she could face the court for not taking any action to prevent it. She gathered up all her courage - which was not very much - and began walking towards the small gang. "Hey!" She outed after a dozen steps. "Stop it, you!"
The kids hardly noticed her until she was only a few meters away from them. Natalie tried to peek into the middle of that circle - they seemed to have cornered their victim next to the trash bins, unable to run away, while they were performing their mean ritual. "Hey you, stop it now!" She said again. It didn't come out quite as harshly as she had wished, but at least she had caught the kids' attention and for a moment they stopped. A skinny boy, perhaps eleven or twelve, stepped out, wiping her nose in his sleeve as he did so. "What do you want, fattie?" He blustered with his squeaky voice. How original, Natalie thought and realized these kids were only just reaching puberty. She adjusted her handbag on her shoulder nervously and tried her best not to seem threatened by these brats. "I want you to stop whatever it is that you're doing", Natalie went on, sounding a bit more self-assured this time. "Who's in the corner? Let him out of there. Is he hurt? Have you beaten him? I will tell your parents about this," she continued. The snot-nosed, almost skeletal boy that had confronted her first, made a weird little laugh. The rest of the group chuckled along. "Go ahead, fattie. See for yourself. I'm sure he's nearly dying." Now they all laughed loudly. Natalie felt suddenly unsure about this. This wasn't any of her business anyway. Nobody had helped her out in school, when the kids had kicked her and ripped off her lunch bag. Nobody had cared. Why should she?
As Natalie was wondering whether to stay or go, the group of kids suddenly moved aside, revealing the corner next to the trash bins. "I'm sure you'll make the best of friends, fattie," the skinny boy said with a sneer. "You kinda look alike anyway, you and - that. Now you can be the best of friends!" The kids started laughing, as if the boy had outed some joke of the century. And to Natalie's amazement, they took off. She could still hear them calling her names as they were running away, but she hardly heard them anymore. Her eyes were fixed on the corner.
It certainly was not a human being, she concurred. Well, so much for that heroic action, she mused grumpily. At first it looked like a regular plastic bag, filled up until it looked like it was going to explode. It was white and almost perfectly round, and had a strange glimmer on it, like it had been polished. She took a step forward to make sure there was no living creature inside the bag - she knew boys of that age, perhaps they were beating up a helpless small animal inside it. But a closer look proved that it was not a plastic bag at all. She leaned in a bit. What on earth was that? It was certainly not plastic - moreover, it looked like something organic. Like a giant egg of sorts. A fairly disgusting one, too. It appeared to have a jello-like consistency. The surface was so thin she could almost see inside it - but not quite. "How odd," she muttered and poked the thing tentatively with her index finger. For a split second she was sure she saw something move inside. Alarmed, she jolted back, accidentally stepping onto a small stone that got her off balance. With a very ungracious thump she fell to the ground, butt first. "Damn kids!" She whispered to herself and prised herself on her feet again. For a moment she thought she'd leave that thing - whatever it was - on the alley and no one the wiser. Let the kids kick it around if they wish. It wasn't her problem. But something came over her as she stared at that weird, white orb. She approached it yet again, this time concentrating on her balance too - and gave the thing another small nudge. Again something seemed to move inside. It was a slow movement, barely visible for the eye, but now she was sure there was something in there. Was this some stupid prank, maybe? Or was there something really alive in there? Natalie decided to take the risk. She took her gloves out from her purse and put them on, and decisively started lifting the ball. It wasn't easy. It wasn't simple for Natalie to bend down to begin with - and lifting something at the same time made it even harder. Besides, the thing was heavy. A lot heavier than she had imagined.
After a few attempts she finally had it in her lap. It was the size of a huge pumpkin, and it wobbled a bit as she held it. Still a bit amazed at herself for taking such an interest towards the orb, she began walking towards home. It took her some minutes to realize that she could hardly stop by at the supermarket while carrying this weird object; and by the time she'd reach home, the supermarket would be closed already. Well, what the hell, she thought. There were still some frozen pizzas in the freezer. She would go to the supermarket tomorrow.
The walk home was long and painful. As Natalie didn't really use her muscles for anything more than the remote control, she had to take a few breaks before finally getting to her apartment building. Gladly, there was an elevator so she didn't need to carry the ball all the way up to the fifth floor. A few times on the way she had questioned her weird mission, and almost assured herself that this was total nonsense - but there she was now, standing outside her house, still carrying that thing in her arms. She went in and released it on the elevator floor. Her arms were aching and shaking for the sudden exercise, and she was feeling hungrier than ever. What a day! As she entered her home, she left the ball in the spare room she had. It was near empty as she didn't really have any use for it. She had first thought she'd use it as a guest room but then again, she didn't have any friends that would visit her. Then she had tried to make it a work-out room, but that idea was dead before it even became anything more. So there was only an old sofa standing next to the wall. She placed the ball on the corner of it, and closed the door behind her. Starving, she then headed to the kitchen. For the rest of the evening she ate pizza and watched some brainless reality shows. It wasn't until a few weeks later that she would even remember she had brought the orb inside her house.
Something woke Natalie up in the middle of the night. She sat up on her bed and tried to listen what it was - perhaps some sounds on the street. But she heard nothing. Just as she was drifting back to sleep she heard it again. It sounded like something was moving inside the house, yet she didn't hear any footsteps. She crawled out of her bed and wrapped herself in her blanket. She heard to noise again - it seemed to be coming from the extra room. Her heart stopped beating as she finally recalled that she had brought the weird ball there days before. How could she have forgotten? And more importantly - what was going on in the room now? Terrified, she walked over to the door and pressed her ear against it. Yes, the sounds were definitely coming from there. It was like soft thudding. "Hello?" She uttered and instantly felt like an idiot. It was not like anyone would answer anyway. She opened the door slowly and switched the lights on before she would feel too scared to do so. She was expecting to see the ball on the corner of the sofa - just like she had left it. But it wasn't there anymore. Instead, there was something horrible on the floor. Natalie screamed and slammed the door close. What was that?! Her heart was racing and her plump fingers were shaking. She tried to gather what she had just seen. It looked like a giant larva - a greenish, worm-like creature, just as she had seen in her biology books when she had been younger. But this was bigger. A lot bigger. It was the size of a small cow, unless her sleepy eyes were betraying her. Yet she knew what she had seen. There was an enormous, hideous creature inside her house; and this time, she mused frantically, it was not herself. The thumping and thudding kept on going in the room. The creature was moving around. Gladly, it seemed that it wouldn't get out of the room by itself; regardless of its size, its movement was slow and feeble. To be on the safe side Natalie locked the door from the outside and went to the kitchen. After a liter and a half of various different ice creams, she decided to do something about this weird situation. First thing tomorrow.
Not knowing what lifeform she was unwillingly supporting in her house, she didn't want to spend any extra time there the next morning. She got up fast - faster than in years - and went to work. Natalie had always been a bit antisocial and nervous, but that day she seemed even more so. The slightest sounds would make her jump, and her mind was wandering. She could only think of the larva in her apartment. Or whatever it was. But it sure looked like a caterpillar, even though the size of it was unnerving to say the least. When her lunch time came she didn't go to the break room; this time, she went to the biology compartment and started looking up books about insects. Without noticing she spent three whole hours there, reading about different species from all over the world, in hopes to find out what kind of maggot was dwelling in her apartment. But even though she read a lot she couldn't find anything even remotely similar to her little guest.
Usually it was the best part of the day when she could finally go home. This time she feared the moment she would have to go back to her flat again. What if the thing had moved? What if it had broken free from the room and would devour her for supper once she'd step inside? That would be a big meal, she mused grimly. But as she had no friends to go to, or quite honestly any other place to spend time at, she was finally forced to go home. She spent a good ten minutes behind her own door, trying to listen if the larva had gotten out. She couldn't hear a thing though - no thudding, no thumping, no sounds at all. Fearfully, she stepped inside and looked around. Everything was as she had left it in the morning. The door of the spare room was still firmly closed and locked. Natalie sighed out of relief. Well at least she wouldn't become a maggot's dinner - yet. She thought about calling the fire department, or animal rescue, or whichever people were supposed to deal with these kind of things - but before that she wanted to make sure that she hadn't dreamed it all. That would make great headlines; the fat, ugly lady finally lost her mind and thought she had brought a gigantic worm inside her house! Determined, Natalie walked over to the extra room and placed the key in the keyhole. She was listening so carefully that she thought her ears must have moved forward as well. But despite of her best efforts, she heard nothing. She turned the key and opened the door. It was still there.
Natalie wanted to slam the door and run off. Or, at least walk away very, very fast. But something about the creature caught her attention; and this time in a different manner. It was lying still, almost too still. In the light of day it didn't look as monstrous as it had looked the night before. Moreover, it looked like a very helpless, big chunk of meat, just laying there. "It's dead!" She whispered to herself and walked a bit closer. Nothing happened. The greenish creature didn't show any signs of life. Perhaps she had imagined it after all. Probably it had never moved anyway. It had just been her drowsy mind playing tricks on her. But just as she thought there was nothing to fear, the larva moved. Only a tiny bit though - but it was enough to scare Natalie. She jumped a bit and covered her face. No need for that, she understood a moment after. If this thing wasn't dead yet, it was certainly dying. The skin of it had been clear and shiny at night, as she recalled - but now it seemed grayish and dull. Sudden concern took over Natalie; the same feeling that had made her pick up the egg some weeks earlier. She didn't think about calling the fire department anymore. This was clearly her responsibility now, whatever creature it was. And it was suffering.
For the remaining of the day Natalie tried in vain to feed something to the poor thing. She tried nearly everything she could find in her house; bread, cookies, jam, some leftover lasagna even - but nothing seemed to work. Each time she passed something in front of the worm she was sure it would eat her instead, but it didn't move. It wasn't until she brought up a packet of chips that the larva would start showing some frail interest. Natalie poured the content of the pack on the floor - close to the end she imagined was the creature's mouth. Very slowly it moved forward, opened its mouth and devoured the pile of chips. Natalie was amazed and awed. The maggot had swept the floor clean in a matter of seconds. Finally something that could eat a whole pack of chips faster than I do, she thought. Exhilarated, she went back to her pantry and poured out all packs she had. Gladly, she had a lot, because the thing was clearly very hungry. It wasn't until seven packs that it would finally seem content. Slowly it seemed to start regaining the color and glimmer on its skin. It was by no means a pretty sight - Natalie had always thought that there was a good reason insects were so small. For who would have wanted to see a larva that size? It sure looked nasty. But strangely enough, perhaps for the first time in her life, Natalie felt some kinship with it. And it felt good that she was able to help it, even if it was with just some chips. Maybe it wasn't exactly the kind of friendship she had always wanted: this thing would most likely never speak to her, and there was no certainty yet that it wouldn't try to eat Natalie at some point, too. Yet for now it seemed nice. Natalie felt good about herself. In fact, she felt so good that she left the house immediately, went to the supermarket and bought a whole cabinet full of chips. Thankfully, due to her previous shopping habits, nobody suspected a thing as she drove away with a car full of potato chips.
The following days went on much in the same manner. She would pour some chips on the floor before going to work - and once she'd be back she would pour some more. A few times she had even touched the larva, but it didn't feel specifically pleasant under her fingers; and it didn't seem to care much for cuddles. All the better: Natalie was not the cuddly type herself either, and quite honestly she had no idea how to pet an animal. Far less a huge larva.
She spent hours and hours reading at the library. Her colleagues raised their eyebrows at her sudden interest towards books - and what books! Only books about worms and maggots and caterpillars. A few times she heard how the cleaning ladies joked about her: Finally she's reading about her own species. Even though the comment stung a bit, she didn't care. She went through as many books as she found, reading about larvas all around the world. She surfed the internet through and through, trying in vain to find out what worm it was that she had at her house. But nothing came up. She was slowly becoming a bit frustrated, even though the creature was getting seemingly better - she didn't want to think how close it had been to death, thanks to her dull mind and neglect. Yet Natalie understood that she couldn't go on forever just feeding chips to her maggot pet. Besides, it was clearly growing. And moving around even more. She had trouble sleeping because of the thudding sounds the larva made, and even when she managed to rest a bit, she dreamed that the neighbors found out and took it away from her. Natalie didn't know why the thought was so upsetting to her. Surely, she couldn't have developed any major feelings towards a creature like that? But something kept her from talking. Perhaps she just felt possessive about it. After all, she had spent almost all her life alone, with no real friends or even pets due to her numerous allergies. Didn't she deserve a bit of affection? Even if it came from a worm? Sometimes Natalie was certain that the creature seemed happier at the sight of her. Well, even if it did, it was most likely because of the food. That's all it seemed to care about. Much like Natalie herself.
The winter came quickly that year. The trees dropped their leaves and the barren branches were soon covered with a thick layer of pure white snow. The days in Natalie's life rolled by much in the same manner they had before; she would go to work, organize the book shelves, and read more about strange insects and larvae every chance she got. She had tried to feed something else to the creature too - after all, chips were not very healthy, she figured - but her attempts were all in vain. The maggot seemed to have a very particular diet. After coming home on one Monday evening in the beginning of January, Natalie had a bit of a surprise waiting for her. She wasn't really afraid of her strange pet anymore, although it still kept her on her toes. She entered the spare room with the food in her hands - but something was horribly wrong.
The larva was not there anymore. Or if it was, it had undergone some strange mutation. Natalie dropped the chips on the floor and stared at the sofa in mild horror. The creature had either died; or transformed into something else. A strange shaped, greyish cocoon was lying on the sofa. It was completely still - even if Natalie tried to poke it a bit, it wouldn't make a move. I should have known, she thought. I am barely fit to take care of myself, let alone a critter from another world! She tried to search for its mouth; at least she could try to keep feeding it. But the larva was hiding somewhere inside, and Natalie was too afraid to touch it more. She poured the chips close to the cocoon and retreated. What had happened? She was frantically trying to remember all the pictures she'd seen in the many books she had read. It was certainly changing into something - that's why insects cocooned. The dreadful question remained though; what would it turn into?
Days rolled by. Natalie was becoming more and more anxious. What if she had created a monster? That had never been her wish. She had merely wanted to aid the helpless creature, not turn it into some hideous bug. She didn't really like bugs. Especially when they were big enough to eat her - and living inside her own apartment. She checked on the cocoon every day: each morning before going to work, and as soon as she got home again. But there was no change. The capsule never moved. A few times she considered getting rid of it. Just take it to the garbage in the backyard and no one the wiser. But regardless of her doubts and concerns, she kept the thing in that extra room.
Natalie was desperately hoping that nobody at work could tell a difference in her behavior. Her colleagues had always considered her boring and weird, which in this case worked for Natalie. Yet she was scared that her secret would come out: that it was something written on her face, and people could tell what hideous thing she was hiding in her home. She spoke even less to people - she asked to be moved to the archives, where she wouldn't have to face any living creatures at all - and once her working hours were finished, she would rush back home to see if anything had changed. For months she would perform this little ritual: she'd open the door and prepare for her worst nightmare. Yet, there it would lay, huddled on the sofa, that big grey cocoon. Until, of course, it was time for it to hatch.
Natalie had come home early that day. It was soon Easter, and the library was completely desolate. Thus, all the employees were given a half day off. She had become so used to the sight of the cocoon that she wasn't really even expecting for anything to happen anymore; so when she entered her apartment that day, she was more than a bit alarmed to notice that something was different.
Usually her flat greeted her with the silence of a tomb. She was accustomed to the stillness - but this time she was hearing something. It wasn't the quiet thumping she'd heard the larva do before. It was the sound of something stretching and breaking - the noises were so loud it sounded like someone was bending metal. She rushed to the spare room as quickly as she could and listened to the horrendous sounds. It was coming out, she concluded. Some weird creature was finally hatching. And she wasn't quite sure she wanted to know what it was. But curiosity is a strange thing; regardless of her fears, her chubby fingers reached for the door knob. She stared at her own hands, frightened, yet she couldn't stop herself. The door opened slowly. Natalie held her breath. Is this how she was going to die?
The cocoon was lying half broken on the floor. A few pieces had already come off, and something was desperately trying to break through the tough shell. Not knowing what to do, Natalie stood still and stared at the strange spectacle from the doorway. Huge, insect-like legs were coming out of the cocoon first - they were slender and hairless and moving about rapidly. The cocoon was cracking even more, the sounds were making Natalie's ears ache but she barely noticed. Next she saw the antennas and the head - at least she thought it was a head - it was covered in bright green hair. The creature had huge, bulgy eyes and they were so black Natalie couldn't decide if it was frightening or wonderful. Little by little, the fat larva Natalie had fed for months, was transforming into a giant butterfly. It was nearly out of its capsule now: she could see the vivid colors of its huge wings as it slowly pushed through - she had never seen such colors in her life. Purple, blue, yellow, emerald green; red, orange and brown; lilac and gold, bronze, white and turquoise - all mixed up in the most beautiful way Natalie could ever have imagined. Once out of its cocoon, the butterfly started moving towards Natalie, trying to open up its wings while proceeding. Natalie stepped backwards. The creature was gorgeous yet horrendous; she wanted to run away but her feet could hardly carry her. Keeping her eyes on the gigantic butterfly she backed off to her living room. It followed her, stumbling on the way as its wings were still glued to its sides; it hit the corridor and fell down a few times, knocked over a drawer and dropped a mirror on the floor. "Don't hurt me," Natalie whispered. Clumsily, the butterfly started stretching out its wings - each time it moved, it managed to drop something. The ruckus must have alarmed the neighbors already. It sounded like Natalie was deliberately destroying her own house. Yet the butterfly didn't seem to care about the noises, or the damage it was causing with each movement. It seemed happy to finally be out of that cramped cocoon. Natalie leaned against the living room wall and kept staring. If she hadn't been so wide awake, she would have been sure she was dreaming.
After some minutes - which felt like lightyears - the butterfly had finally managed to spread it's wings to their maximum. They glimmered in the afternoon sun and nearly blinded Natalie. It made a few wing-strokes, as if to test they certainly worked; the second flap dropped down the TV and started up a fire in the corner. It approached Natalie - but it didn't seem aggressive. Instead, there was something benevolent in its being. Natalie reached her hand towards the weird, hairy head. Suddenly all doubt escaped her mind. For the first time in her life she was sure. She knew what she would do now. There was only one way.
She wasn't scared anymore. The butterfly lowered its wings and Natalie climbed up - effortlessly. She didn't know how she had become so agile all of a sudden, but she didn't care. She breathed a few times with enthusiasm. The butterfly lift its wings and flapped a few times more; then it approached the living room windows and broke through with its giant insect feet. For a split second Natalie was afraid the creature would damage its wings - but the only thing damaged were the windows. The butterfly stepped on the windowsill. Natalie held tight. Her stomach flipped around when it finally took wing into the blue skies ahead.
It wasn't until a few weeks later that people would start wondering. Natalie might have not been the most effective or liked employee but her absence was noticed nevertheless. It was her colleague who finally took the effort of going to her apartment - and it was her colleague who found her lifeless body. Later investigations suggested that Natalie had lived in a kind of retreat for months. The apartment had been destroyed - bookshelves had been ripped down, decorative items and random papers were lying all over the place. The TV set had been smashed and the short circuit had burned down a corner of the living room. But it wasn't there where they found her body. She was lying in her spare room, huddled in a corner of the sofa, with a strange, illuminated smile on her face. The room was filled with emptied potato chip bags; there were tens of them, if not hundreds all around. The doctors concluded that the cause of death was most likely sudden stress to the heart - it was easy to tell that her living habits were unhealthy to say the least. She was buried in the small cemetery next to her mother a few days later. Only two of her colleagues would show up to the memorial.
If the doctors would have performed a proper autopsy, they would have been surprised though. For underneath that ugly, fat corpse of Natalie, there was nothing inside: it was as if her body had been a cocoon, until something made her break through and fly away from her own skin.
