Body Horror

There was once a man who believed he was too fat. His friends told him this was not so; his wife told him this was not so; everyone told him this was not so. But he could not bring himself to believe them, could not bring himself to seeing anything in the mirror save for a pile of walrus blubber on two legs. And so, the man, or perhaps the boy, was determined to lose weight. So determined was he that when he found a genie in a lamp, and got to his last wish, he said he wished he could design his own perfect body. The genie obliged, and the man drew from his mind’s eye what he saw as perfect. Everyone else was disturbed by the result. Seeing someone’s ribs forming a tent in their skin is a bit disturbing, after all. And so the man, after hearing his wife’s scream at the sight of her now ninety pound, six foot tall husband, realized he had an eating disorder of some kind. He started attending therapy and began the slow but rewarding journey towards recovery.