Deathfat Camp
The foreboding structure of the East-Bracknell Deathfat Camp loomed unimposingly on the horizon. Ashton Joel Parks finally allowed himself to swallow the last of the double-fried chicken sandwich that he had been storing in his cheek pouches. The three-foot tall, trample proof fences were too high for any morbidly obese person to climb over. There would be no escape.
His sentiment was closely echoed by Collingwood, the Kamp Kommandant.
“I am afraid that you will find escape to be quite impossible, Mr Parks,” he lisped, as he reached for a lavender-scented lace handkerchief, and dabbed a single tear, as it fumbled its way along the dry bed of a old duelling scar, behind his glasses.
“Since you have entered we have narrowed the gates. Even if you were to turn sideways you would find the gap, how shall we say, 'overly tight'. Of course, you may attempt to tunnel out if you desire. That is assuming you can bore a hole wide enough to accommodate your girth. It may interest you to learn that we have removed the natural chocolate deposits that ordinarily accumulate in the soil in this part of the United Kingdom. You will find no sustenance should you choose to burrow like moles. I would also direct your attention towards our tower searchlights – note that they have been significantly widened to accommodate the size of their targets. Their will be no eclipsing; not on my watch!”
The Kommandant clicked his heels together, like Dorothy at the Wizard of Oz, if Dorothy had been the overseer of a death camp for overweight people.
After he was gone, a prisoner named Isenman shuffled over.
“You see those big piles of shoes,” he said, panting for breath after his short walk.
Parks directed his attention towards two mounds of trainers that occupied a forlorn and neglected corner of the camp, like a pair of tits made out of footwear.
“They expect you to walk everywhere,” said Isenman. “No disabled ramps or guardrails either. If you dig down into one of the piles you might still be able to find a pair with wheels embedded in the soles.”
As he pointed towards the mounds, the cuff of his shirt had travelled an inch or so up his arm exposing a string of faded numbers marking his wrist.
“You are looking at my digits. You will get your own soon. Everyday, the camp doctor will weigh you. The camp nurse will write your weight on your wrist in marker pen, along with an arrow indicating whether it had gone up or down. Trust me my friend, in this hellhole, the arrow will always point downward. My advice to you: Wait until you are really hungry before licking the numbers off.”
He glanced furtively around before continuing.
“Don't get me started on the showers,” he said, in a hushed tone.
“What's with the showers?” enquired Parks.
“They make you take one everyday.”
“Why do they not just kill us all and be done with it?” said Parks.
“They are merely monsters; they are not Canadians,” replied Isenman.
~
Life at the Deathfat Camp settled into a grim and predictable routine:
“Gentlemen, what you see before you is Swiss chard,” announced Kommandant Collingwood. “It contains just 0.07 grammes of fat.”
“My friend, I cannot go on much longer,” said Isenman, visibly wilting before the pert green leaf on his plate.
“I think I saw the tip of my penis today,” said Parks. “I cannot be wholly certain. It has been well over a decade since I last laid eyes upon it. What else could it be?”
“No living person should ever be required to look at your penis,” said Isenman.
~
Collingwood was fond of trophies – anything that demonstrated his power over those who he could bend under his will. He kept a motorcycle that had been flattened into two-dimensions, framed on the wall behind his desk. A prisoner had attempted to use it to jump the fence, but the machine had crumpled under their weight before they could get the engine going.
Early one morning the inmates were assembled in the exercise yard.
“Gentleman,” shrieked Collingwood. “As a special reward for your weight loss, I have decided to allow you an insight into what happens to those in the United Kingdom who disregard the need for loicences that will regulate their behaviour. Together we will watch the public execution of Adam Warski for his crime of losing a boxing match in its early stages, while lacking the proper paperwork soliciting such an outcome.”
All eyes were focused on the big screen as Warksi was led to the chopping block. There was a drum-roll that came to an abrupt halt. A second later, Warksi's severed head ricocheted off the axe blow and soared into the heavens, raining blood spatter over the ghoulish onlookers as it cleared the curtain wall of the Tower of London.
“Warski is kill,” said Isenman.
“No,” replied Parks, in disbelief.
Yet, in his mind, the kernel of an idea had formed: If Warski's head could catch air, then surely it was within his power to gain the few feet in altitude necessary for clearing the camp fence.
Rising unsteadily to his feet, he launched himself as Isenman, bouncing off his belly and staggering backwards into another prisoner, and then another, and another, and another, all the while gaining in momentum.
“What is this you are doing? This is unacceptable,” screeched Kommandant Collingwood into his megaphone, as the soles of Park's Nike Air Maxes were lifted from the ground and at last he was flying!
He continued to bounce between the camp inmates, their hoarse cheers rising up around him as he gained altitude.
PARKS! PARKS! PARKS!
One final push and he was propelled upward, arcing into the sky, the Deathfat camp and and its overweight occupants reduced to to the status of morbidly obese ants. Free at last.