“Instant gumball…?” Jessica read the words on the old-fashioned gumball machine, metalwork gleaming in hot-rod red, the glass dome disappointingly empty. Leaning in, she peered through the glass, trying to make out if there were any left inside, catching a glimpse, catching a glimpse of a brightly coloured ball resting in the bottom of the machine, “bingo!”

    She fished in her pocket for a coin, slotting it into the machine, turning the hand, hearing the satisfying clunk of the mechanism inside, the rattle of something falling through… then nothing. Impatient, she shook the machine, desperate to see the gumball rolling down the spiral chute. More clattering, but no gumball.

    “What a ripoff...” annoyed, now craving the gumball more than anything, she wrestled with the lid of the machine, trying to unscrew it from the top. With a squeal of metal against metal, it came free. Grinning wide, Jessica reached into the machine, fingers brushing against the sloping glass and metal. Huffing again, she strained to reach in deeper, desperate to reach the gumball inside. She peered deep into the globe, stepping up on her tip-toes to reach deeper… and deeper…

    The world spun around her. A feeling of weightlessness as the ground was whisked out from underneath her, the walls of the alleyway looming large as they flew past her, until all she could see was the inside of the glass bubble around her, before landing with a painful thud against a gently sloping floor. 

    Brushing herself off, she slowly stood up, trying to make sense of where she was and what the hell had just happened to her. Trainers squeaked on the glass beneath her, almost slipping down the slope, steadying herself on a curving glass wall. She peered out past her reflection and back into the alleyway, now impossibly large around her. Glancing down, she saw the gleam of brilliant red metal, confirming her words as she read out the words below: 

    INSTANT GUMBALL

    “I… I’m inside…?” another step back and she almost slipped and tumbled into the workings of the machine, reaching forward to steady herself, catching her breath. Turning herself around, she gently lowered herself to sit against the curve of the glass, feet almost dangling over the edge of the mechanism, “can’t even see a damn gumball…”

    Resting her hands in front of her, she started to notice a strange, almost bloating feeling inside her, a sensation of pressure growing, “better not be getting heatstroke in this thing…” she muttered to herself, unaware of her gradually swelling belly. Inside, her organs were already starting to shift and change, flesh turning to syrup and gum inside her. Her stomach, or what was left of it, churned, catching her attention. Looking down, she noticed her belly rising gently under her shirt, shifting occasionally.

    “What now…?” she groaned, reaching to pull her shirt up, eyes growing wide at the sight of her torso: swollen and red, skin shining unnaturally, the colour spreading across her and growing brighter with every second. 

    “Fuck’s sake… now I’m hallucinating too…” Shutting her eyes, she tried to ignore the sensations, even as her breathing started to slow as more and more of her insides became churning confectionary. Her legs and arms began to pull towards her body, growing shorter inch by inch, flesh bulging and squashing as it went, pulling her clothes with it. Each time her limbs shifted, giving way, it sent a quiver of pleasure through her changing body, more and more intense each time she changed until it was impossible to ignore. 

    Unable to resist, she opened her eyes, staring down at her changing body: her belly had risen further, swollen and round, gleaming a deep dark red, pushing her breasts up towards her face. Her hands had swollen, fingers looking soft and tender, smooth candy flesh pressing into each other, peeling away as she tried to move them, growing darker with each passing moment. Peering around her belly, she tried to guess how long her legs were now, probably no more than half their length, thighs pressing together. Even her clothes were changing, shinier, redder, darker, stiffer; soaking in juice from her changing body.

    “What the… hell…?” the words came slowly, breath coming short, though she didn’t seem to notice or care. With another quake of pleasure, her arms and legs pulled in tighter, clothes bunched around her, slowly becoming one with her body. She could feel the changes reaching her head, sinking down into her expanding neck. Her saliva turned to juice, the taste of cherry filling her mouth, spilling from her lips even as they gummed together. Trying to speak again, she could barely pull her mouth apart, gummy flesh sticking together, her features gradually lost into her changing mass. 

    At least I can taste myself… and I’m delicious!

    Far too content with the feelings of pleasure rolling through her body, the taste of the juices filling her up from the inside, she didn’t notice at first she was starting to slide down the globe, catching on the rim of the metal workings, sending her tumbling into the spiral of the mechanism. The world spun around her again, faster and faster, dizzying her as she went, enraptured by the pleasure of the sensations. 

    Each bump knocked and squashed her, flattening what remained of her limbs into her body, smoothing out her breasts into the rest of her, squeezing her face into the rest of her. Her clothes and hair smoothed out with her, flattened by the roll of the spiral, hardening into a candy shell around her, squeezing her tight. Almost a perfect sphere, the felt what was left of her face squashing against the smooth surface of the spiral again, pushing it deep into her. 

    The world went dark, the sound of her clattering body muffled by distance, joined by the steady churning of the juice inside her. She tumbled for a while more, spinning and knocking about, her body slamming to a stop at the bottom of the chute, cool air playing across her hard shell. 

    She lost track of how long she waited there, the occasional rumble of a passing car setting her rocking gently, until she could make out the sound of footsteps approaching.

    “Hey, free gumball!” came a voice, almost too indistinct to make out. Rough, warm fingers pinched her body, a gentle pressure on her insides, hard shell holding tight against her. 

    “Put that down! You don’t know where it’s been!” came another voice, more distant, softer. 

    “Who cares? I love cherry…” the first voice was louder now, whoever was holding her lifting her up, bringing her to their mouth… 

    For a moment, Jessica felt apprehensive… nervous… almost excited. Some part of her was scared of what would come next, part of her was curious what it would feel like, and part of her yearned to be chewed… it was what she was made for, after all. 

    Her thoughts were interrupted by the explosion of sensations inside her: solid teeth clamping down onto her shell, an electric sensation as cracks formed and spread, splintering the hard skin around her. An instant later, and her soft body inside was stretched apart, tension growing and releasing, juice spilling out of her, mixing with the voice’s saliva. 

    “F-ing delicious” she heard the voice say, words echoing around her, body tumbling and shifting as he spoke.

    Again and again, her body tumbled inside him, smashed between two teeth. New fragments of shell cracked each time, mixing in with her body, an explosion of sensation each time. She could feel her body stretching apart, squeezed by the force of the teeth, deforming around them, only to be rolled back together and squashed into herself. Vision returned in fragments, showing a warped view of the mouth, allowing her a moment’s anticipation as the teeth chewed down on her again. Each time felt better than the last, her body stretching and mixing more and more, a seemingly endless supply of juice flowing from her, pleasure rolling through her until she could barely think…

    “You’re not supposed to swallow the damn thing!” the voice was faint and distant, drowned out by the sounds of the body surrounding her: the thump of a heart, slow rumble of breathing, and the gurgle of the stomach she splashed down into, her gummy body mercifully resistant to being dissolved, though that did leave her one question: now what?