I was having a nice day off, sitting on the couch in my apartment. As I gripped the video game controller in my hands, I idly scrolled through the selection of movies from a popular streaming service. I was just about to settle for a goofy looking straight to streaming horror movie when my wife interrupted me.

“Babe,” she said.

I looked around the apartment, but couldn’t see her. That wasn’t really surprising, since I knew she had left for work early that morning. She’d told me that that day was going to be the culmination of a very big project she’d been working on with a couple of colleagues.

I decided that it was just a bit a wishful thinking. My mind playing tricks on me, and started to settle back into the cushions.

“Ryan,” Beth’s voice seemed to float past me somehow.

I looked around again. “Beth?” I asked the seemingly empty air.

“I’m not in the apartment silly,” she said, “look outside.”

At this point, I was a little worried that I was having a serious mental health crisis. I tried to think of conditions that could cause symptoms like auditory hallucinations, and was considering whether or not I should go to an emergency room.

“You’re absolutely fine,” the voice said. “Now look out the window, and this will all makes sense.”

While I was skeptical, I made a deal with myself; if I opened the blinds and there was nothing there, then I would go get medical help. I stood up from the couch and took the slender control rod in my hand. A bit of a twist and the long vertical blinds twisted away from the glass. My stomach sank as I caught a glimpse of a something out there. It definitely wasn’t “nothing.”

“No need to be so nervous, silly.” Beth’s voice said. “It’s just your pretty little wife.”

My heart fluttered as I pulled the rod along the ceiling, dragging the beige blinds to one side of the window frame.

Our apartment offered a very nice view of the downtown area of our city. I saw the usual mix of nearby apartment blocks, much like our own building, and further away the tall skyscrapers in various styles and shapes all around two-hundred to five-hundred feet tall. There were taller buildings further South, but I couldn’t see those from the window. The tallest building was a five hundred foot tall gray-pink tower owned by some bank or another. Locals gave it the nickname ‘Big Pink’ at some point.

Directly behind behind ‘Big Pink’

A wall the color and texture of tawny flesh rose up into the sky. The parts of it that were directly behind the skyscraper were a shape that would be impossible for me to miss. They were Beth’s feet. Enormous, nearly beyond my comprehension, but nevertheless, they were definitely her feet.

Do you see me now?

As I “heard” this I finally realized that I wasn’t hearing her with my ears. I was hearing Beth with my brain.

“What’s happening?” I asked the air.

I’m just testing things out a little.

“Testing?”

Of course, babe. When you get a new toy, it’s natural to want to try it out a little.

“What toy?”

The Earth.

“The Earth?”

Technically the whole universe, but Earth is the bit I’m interested in at the moment.

“So, are you really gigantic, or is it some kind of illusion..?” I asked, trailing off towards the end of the sentence.

Nope.

“How big are you?”

Well, I didn’t really think in terms of numbers, the gargantuan foot lifted and shifted, flexing down so all I could see were her toes with their pretty rose gold polish on the nails. She positioned it so her big toe was just behind the skyscraper. I was just making sure my big pink toe would be bigger than the ‘big’ pink building.

Her big toe was, indeed, ever so slightly longer than the building was tall and much thicker in width.

“I think that makes it something more than five hundred feet then.” I said.

I’m not worried about numbers, like I said. Anyway watch this.

The gargantuan digit moved again, advancing toward the building. As it got closer a shiver ran up my back. Beth giggled inside my mind. My hairs were standing on end. Anxiety mixxed with anticipation corkscrewed up my spine. For a split second, I heard a “Mmm-mm” at the back of my mind, as if my wife was enjoying a particularly tasty morsel. Her toe moved in closer and closer to the building. Visions of the forthcoming destruction filled my mind: torn broken concrete and shattered glass, twisted steel and squished mangled bodies. The giggling in my head turned into a sort of cooing.

What a lovely picture you paint. Now watch.

Her toe swung forward in a slow arc toward the skyscraper. Then it went straight through the building. By which I mean it passed through it completely without disturbing or destroying any thing.

Beth laughed in my brain. Scared you, didn’t I?

“What?”

I’m intangible sweetie. If I weren’t half the city would already be rubble.

“Oh,” I said. “How come you’re miles tall and intangible?”

It’s something I’ve been working on for a while now. You know the fantasies we’ve always talked about?

“Of course.”

Well, I’ve found a way to bring them to life and then some.

“Wow, this seems impossible.” I rubbed my eyes. “C’mon is this some kind of illusion or projection?”

It’s the real deal. I did some sneaky stuff at work in my off hours, absorbed massive amounts of inter-dimensional energies inside myself, and now I have all kinds of powers that defy the normal rules of our universe.

“Wow,” I said, “I didn’t know that your company was into anything like this?”

It wasn’t. She giggled in my head. But a strange thing happened with the newest model of transmitter-receiver we’ve been working on, and it hooked me up with some other people with my interest. Well, she paused, other people in a manner of speaking, but that’s not what’s important now.

“Then, what is?”

This. I could hear the smirk in her thoughts.

The gargantuan feet moved. Beth strode and shrank as she moved closer and closer to our building, slipping through every structure between her and me, like some enormous ghost. Of course, she started out miles tall so she was still pretty enormous even as she shrank with each step. She got closer and closer.

Here I come, dear.

Tingles ran all over my body as Beth advanced closer and closer halving and halving in size with each move, but still remaining enormous by any normal context. Soon she stood right outside our apartment window which was not at her head height, but instead at her crotch. Beth blocked most of the natural light that normally came into the apartment. I flicked on the lights and beheld the windows now dominated by Beth’s dark brown fuzzy thick, but well groomed pubic thatch.

Like what you see?

“I don’t know what to say.” I was still overwhelmed by the unreality of the situation. The thatch of brown hair I had stroked lovingly the evening before was now the size of a hedge and sitting right outside the windows.

Maybe you want to skip right to the good bits, well that’s okay.

Before I could say, or even think anything Beth started growing again. Her crotch rose until it was at the very top of the window frame. Sunlight spilled back into the room. She took a step forward, passing through the walls of the building, through the glass in the window, and the floor and ceiling too. Her pelvis thrust forward. I scurried back to the kitchenette, panicked and unsure. I loved Beth and indulged her fantasies which were so very adjacent to my own, but I had no idea what would happen if her intangible body came into contact with mine.

That’s so delicious my love. That’s what I feed on now, you know. Intense emotions, and your fear and desire and love all mixed, as they are now, are just so yummy.

“You feed on fear?” I asked.

Any strong emotions, but of course, fear is a very strong one. So is lust, so let’s see how you react to this.

Beth’s pelvis advanced ahead into the apartment and at the same time rose upward. It stopped after just a short time. It shifted around for a bit as the massive thighs beneath shifted and spread, slightly on her scale, but widely on my own.

There we go. Can you see me?

From my position in the kitchenette I hadn’t had a very good view of what she’d done. I took a wary step forward and looked up. A very familiar vulva covered the entire ceiling. Labia more than a yard long from front to back dangled down. They glistened. My crotch felt warm.

I taste your lust, Ryan. It’s good. Let’s see if I can make it even yummier.

A gigantic hand emerged through the wall behind me. A palm bigger than my body passed through my body on it’s way to the succulent cleft above. It was scary for a second, but didn’t hurt me or even feel like anything at all. The hand found the pussy-lips and rubbed itself around against them.

Mmmmm, moaned the voice in my head. A drop of fluid the size of a basketball seeped out and dripped down straight through the floor. What’s happening to my juices, babe? I’m curious.

“They went right through the floor.” I said.

Hmmm, well don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of those strays when I re-materialize.

“When will that be?” I asked staring straight up into my lovers enormous twat.

When I feel like it of course. Don’t worry I won’t do it while I’m still inside the building. It is kind of tempting though, mmmm, she slipped a pointer finger taller than me into herself, though I’m curious what would happen if I did. Her hand slid up her vulva and on through the ceiling. Probably the building would just burst and shatter sending debris everywhere, displacing the air explosively killing and maiming most of our neighbors. Mmmmm.

“What’s ‘mmmm’ about that?” I asked.

Mmmmm, was from me tasting my pussy juice. I would share some with you if it weren’t for the mass destruction stuff I just mentioned. Now hold on, I’m going back in.

She swung her hand back down into the room and it resumed it’s place stroking her labia.

I bet it looks so good to you. You’d probably feel wonderful inside me. Imagine me, your loving wife, ravishing and devouring your little body in my big wet cunt here. She moved her hand up along the lips to where they met at her clitoris and gave it a little stroke with her finger, which blocked my view of things.

Reposition yourself, dear. I want you to see as much of my little show as you can. After all it’s just for you and me…, She paused for a long second,...for now.

Even though it was telepathy, I could sense the smirk on Beth’s face. I inched my way through the room, less worried about the effect touching Beth’s intangible form could have on me, since it hadn’t hurt me yet. From my new position I could easily see my giant wife’s giant clit. Where the massive curtains of labia met, there sat a nubbin of smooth pink flesh that I’d licked and fingered many times. Now, I would have needed both hands to hold it, and the thought was strangely thrilling to me. Beth had told me about her fantasies, and they turned me on then, but I’d never pictured what it would really be like. I felt my lust stirring. Images flashed through my head. I wanted to stroke and smooth that flesh with my two hands, rub my face in it and take long lashing licks up and down it’s surface, play with the foot long shaft and hood. Beth must have been listening in because she came in loud and clear.

Mm-mm, oh yes, Ryan. Keep thinking those wonderful thoughts. Picture what you could do to the biggest erogenous zones on Earth. Your lust feeds me, your love feeds me, your fear feeds me! Ha ha ha ha!

I moved my gaze from her clit, down her vulva to her vagina. Gallons of drippings fell down through the floor, drooling like a starving mouth. Which, I thought, must be pretty much what it was; starving for me.

Mmmmm

At this magnitude it looked like a big sopping plush pink fold big enough the engulf and devour me. I thought of Beth’s giant hand, presently rubbing and pawing at her swelling engorging clit, grabbing me and thrusting me up into her body. Big as it was, I still wasn’t quite sure I would fit up inside it completely.

Oh, don’t worry dear. You’ll fit one way or another. You want me to gobble you up? Does Ryan want to go all the way up into Beth’s big sexy slobber hole? I don’t know if I’d be able to resist clenching it around you. Even just to make you squirm. I would squeeze and squeeze until I felt your body begin to break, but like I keep saying, don’t worry. Beth knew how much that phrase stressed me out when I heard it. Even if I lose all restraint, you’ll be fine. Even if my muscles crush you until your ribs collapse and your organs are squeezed into paste against your shattered bones, you’ll be fine. Even if…

Beth’s fingers moved faster and faster against her clit. Her other hand swept through the room, it’s palm passing right through my body as if she were mimicking grabbing me up. Instead the fingers went right up into her sopping wet pussy as she strummed her clit faster and faster.

The voice in my head became high gasps and shrieks of pleasure that I was very familiar with. Creamy fluids dribbled out around her thick plunging fingers. Her whole pelvis and vulva twitched and her vagina clenched and I thought about being squeezed and hugged in it’s warm wet embrace, in Beth’s warm wet embrace. Her fingers quickened their pace in and out, and her clit throbbed and swelled. It was amazing to be able to see it with my own eyes; I had never realized how sexy a clit boner could be until seeing it magnified to such a degree.

The shrieks in my head went low, now turning into grunting and panting. I imagined my face rubbing and bumping against her hot swollen clitoris head.

Mmmm, yes. Do you want to?

“It scares me; you scare me.”

I know. She chuckled. I love it. Tastes so good absorbing your little bitty fear into myself. Imagine what it will be like when it’s a whole city; a whole nation; the whole world.

“You plan to show yourself to the world?”

Of course, but not quite yet. I want to finish getting off at least. Give me some more imagery to work with.

I imagined Beth’s firm hand gripped around my body, shoving me up head first into her lewdly creamy snatch. Soft smooth folds would rub and caress my face, making it as sloppy and damp as if I’d been licked on my face over and over again. I pictured it as perfectly as I could.

Yes Ryan, yes keep going.

I imagined things further, her firm hand again shoving me up into herself, this time not stopping with my head, but pushing me in up to my waist. My naked cock would be dangling just outside her opening stiff as iron throbbing and poking into her tender flesh. My naked chest would be warm, engulfed in the humid flesh within her body. My nipples would be really hard too I imagined, rubbing and scraping against the inner walls of Beth. As she got closer to orgasm, Beth would clench all around me. One strong push and I would be entirely up inside her. Slime would be filling my eyes and mouth as I tried to breath that humid musky air. Even so, I’d be so aroused, so desiring to pleasure Beth any way my little body could, I would kiss and lick her merciless flesh, wriggle and squirm my best in her inescapable clutch…

It was at about that time in my train of thought that Beth interrupted with high pitched squeals of pleasure. Gobs and strands of her juices spilled out flowing down through the floor with the rest. Beth gasped in my brain and the movement of the fingers across her clit slowed, then backed off entirely.

So good, babe. We’ll have to try that for real later.

“Later?”

Yep, now that I’ve demonstrated some of my new abilities for you, and had a little fun playtime, I think it’s time to shrink back down a bit and fill you in a little more.

As the words echoed through my brain, the crotch above my head diminished and contracted, pulling up legs, pulling in arms and hips, and the torso down. Within less than thirty seconds Beth was standing in our apartment at her usual height, just a little shorter than mine. Then there was a ‘poof’ noise and Beth stretched her arms upward giving me a full view of her lovely naked body with her light brown skin, full nose and lips, and coils of dark textured hair framing her face like a curly halo.

“Here I am.” She said.

I had an odd question and voiced it. “What happened to all the pussy juice you dribbled down into the floors below us?”

“Ah it shrunk down along with me and I reabsorbed most of it back into my body. The rest is so minuscule, no one will notice.”

“Ah, well that’s good,” I hesitated. “You wouldn’t want to flood out our neighbors with your fluids.”

The two of us laughed together.

“Not just yet anyway.” Beth said.

“Ah,” I stood silent. “What now?”

“How about proper affection for your wife now that she’s home from work?”

“Of course,” I swooped in and wrapped my arms around her naked body. We brought our faces together and had a long soft kiss. As we parted lips, I looked into her eyes; soft and brown, full of sharpness and wit. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She said and smiled big, showing her gums a bit. I always loved a gummy smile.

I held her and kissed her again, this time against her cheek.

“Mmmm,” she sighed.

“It was pretty intense hearing all your little moans and sounds in my head.” I said. “How did you do it?”

“Telepathy is part of the mix.” She said. “A necessary part, remember what I said about feeding on emotions?”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded.

“Well the telepathy is how I sense the emotions and absorb from them.”

“How can someone feed on emotions though? There’s no substance to them.”

“That’s what we thought.” She said. “But now, with my changes, I can absorb them like a big receiving antenna, if you want to think of them like that. Emotions, it seems, broadcast on an intradimensional substrate that I can now sense. When those big emotions hit, the residual ‘radiation’ from their power comes into my body. In turn that nourishes my powers to greater ‘heights’, so to speak.” She smiled at her own pun.

“So when I got scared, because you were like, an enormous ghost, you could sense that in me?”

“Yes, I could sense the bits of emotional energy pouring out of you, and suck them into myself like a milkshake through a straw.”

“And they taste, uh, good?”

“Uh-huh,” she purred and nuzzled her face against me. “Delicious.”

“And what do you intend to do with all this power?” I asked.

“Have fun.”

“Like in our fantasies?”

“Exactly.” She backed out of my arms and stepped backward a few feet. “This is just to demonstrate how real this all is.”

A look of pure bliss filled Beth’s face. She flexed upward as if stretching and just, well, grew. She expanded growing up and widening until her head was just below the level of the ceiling putting her somewhere around 11 or 12 feet tall; just over twice my height.

She sighed with a kind of contented pleasure, then opened her eyes and looked right down at me.

“Hey, cutie.” She said with the breath of desire and beckoned me with a finger. “Come and touch. Find out.”

My anxiety rose, as did my desire. She reacted.

“Mmm, tastes so good coming out of you, babe.” She said. “Come closer.” She commanded, her voice going stern.

I stepped toward her and put my hand out. I put my palm against her naked leg. She felt absolutely solid.

“Yes, please. Touch me.”

I cupped my hand around her lower thigh, just above the knee. It barely covered a quarter of it’s new girth. I looked down at Beth’s now massive feet. Each was nearly two feet long and more than a half a foot wide. A thought of intense desire flashed through my mind. I looked back up into Beth’s face.

“Go on, boy.” She said. “Do what I know you want to.”

I got down on my knees and touched the top of her foot with both hands. It was warm and huge. Pleasure flooded my body. I ran my hands down to the toes, still painted with the shiny pink rose gold nail polish that matched the skyscraper so well. Looking at her big toe, which was longer than my pointer finger, I thought of how massive it had been when Beth moved it through the building; that this toe could have ground that whole building into rubble if Beth had wanted. I got down further on my stomach and gave the toe a big kiss. Beth wriggled her titanic toes.

“Don’t worry, dear.” She said. “You’ll still get to see these toes grind buildings out of existence, see them plunge through masses of infrastructure, watch them clench and squeeze a cityscape until it mushes up in between them like sand. Now keep going”

The fear came across me, scary, but also excited to listen to Beth talk so casually about destruction and devastation. It always turned me on when we talked about our fantasies before. The new reality of Beth’s powers, whatever they all were, made me nervous. I kissed Beth’s big toe again, but this time I felt a strange buzzing fill my body as if I was a human funny-bone striking a surface.

“Never mind the discomfort.” She said. “I’ve eaten enough of your fear and lust that I was able to make my first external changes.”

The buzzing left my body fading out over a few moments.

“You see, if you’re going to play with a big gal like me, I think you need to be a little tougher. Well, that’s what I’ve just done. I reinforced your little body so that I can enjoy you how I want without breaking you too badly. Now let’s get back to my foot, shall we?” She lifted her leg, using her massive foot to knock me onto my back. She raised her huge foot until it was directly above my face, which the sole easily out-sized. The soft sole was dewy against my skin, pleasant, but huge, and I could feel the weight behind it. If Beth wanted to, she could have pushed all of her force into my face and probably break my nose if not cave in the front of my skull.

I grasped Beth’s foot with both hands and rubbed my face against it’s soft plush surface, I kissed the ball of her foot just below the big toe.

“Yes, very pleasing, but let’s test the changes I’ve made in you.” Beth pushed the sole of her foot down onto my face like it was a gas pedal, increasing the pressure. “Do you want this foot, little Ryan. Do you want this big monster foot pressing right on top of you?” Her eyes shown fiercely as they always did when she felt the thrill of domination.

“Yes,” I whimpered.

“Of course you do you little foot perv.” Beth lfted her foot just a small distance above my face, then stomped down with force, pressing down hard. “Let’s see how you like this foot crushing your little head. You’re such a little perv you’ll probably actually like it.” Beth pressed even harder. I felt the pressure, great pressure like I’d never felt before, but I didn’t feel much pain. Certainly not as much as I expected. “Watch this.” Beth raised her foot off my face again, this time about a foot higher than before., then slammed it back down right on my face. I felt the force, the impact, but again not much pain. “If I hadn’t strengthened you, that would have split your head like an egg.” She exerted even more pressure to make her point, then removed her foot from my face. “Now stand up.” She ordered.

I shifted a bit to get my feet back on the ground when Beth lost patience.

“Here, I’ll do it for you.” Beth wrapped her huge around my forearms and pulled me upright. They were pleasantly warm and soft, but with pure iron underneath; I couldn’t have resisted if I’d tried. She held me until I was steady on my feet then released me. She smirked.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Let’s just say I didn’t choose my current height at random. It’s a height that makes certain things very convenient.” She took her hands that had just been supporting me, and grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me in forcefully. “It’s the perfect height for this.” Beth said and with one mighty head she jammed my face into her crotch. “Lick!”

I nuzzled in beneath Beth’s pubic hair and tongued her experimentally.

“Aw, yes.” She sighed. “Lick it, devour it, let it lick you and devour you back.”

I felt a mix of pleasure and distress. Beth was feeding on it, I knew that now, and it added an extra dimension. Her vulva was still very wet and swollen with desire. The familiar tang coated my tongue and the humid musk flooded my senses. I licked and lapped away. Beth moaned and trilled with delight.

“So good, dear. So good at pleasing me; licking me. And it’s good it works so well, because your little pecker certainly isn’t going to do any good for me anymore.” The humiliating words stung in a beautiful way. I mashed my face further into Beth’s wetness. Her clit wasn’t a swollen football any more but it certainly wasn’t small either. “In fact, when you were groveling at my foot just now, I noticed that my own big toe is bigger and longer than your dick now. Well when it’s flaccid anyway.”

My dick was not flaccid. I slurped Beth between my pursed lips like and oyster or mussel. She lost composure.

“Aw, yeah, aw.” Beth moaned. “Who needs a big dick anyway when you’ve got such a great little mouth.”

I renewed my licking and fondling. Sticking a pointer finger up into Beth as an experiment, I found that it was enveloped easily.

“Yes, more.”

Following Beth’s directive, I added the forefinger and thrust them in and out.

“Very nice, give me more, give me all.”

I clenched my hand together and shoved my fist deep inside of Beth. Masses of cream leaked out around it. My face was absolutely coated in Beth’s juices and my shirt soaked through.

“Mmmm, so good. Keep going.”

Beth’s legs wobbled. I thrust my fist inside and it slid in up to my elbow. I was now practically punching my way in and out of Beth.

Beth grunted and clenched so tight around my hand I worried my little bones might actually break.

“Mmmm, so good to be so big.” With that Beth grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me up to her face. She practically mauled me slurping and kissing my face with her full plush lips, enveloping my nose and mouth in their plushness. She put one hand on my butt, supporting it like a bicycle seat and held me tight. As she did, she took a few steps through the apartment and carried me into our bedroom.

“You did such a good job giving me pleasure, babe. I think I should give back, but I need to get these off of you.” She threw me down into the bed and grabbed the cuffs of my pants yanking them right off of me. “And these.” She slipped a single huge finger down the front of my underwear, already stretched by my erection, and ripped them off of me with just a forceful pull to the front. My swollen cock jutted up plump and swollen, the head glistening in the sunlight filtering through our bedroom window.

“If I was my usual tiny self, that would be one delicious mouthful.” Beth said. “But at this size it’s just a fun little tidbit. I think I’ll give it a nice taste anyway.”

Beth grabbed me once more around the waist and hauled me up like a doll. She put one hand under my butt again and lifted me up high. My head was level with hers. I hadn’t appreciated from below just how huge her mouth and eyes were. But she lifted me up higher until my head was almost at the ceiling and my prick was directly in front of Beth’s mouth. She wasted no time engulfing it in her enormous plush lips.

I was already right on the edge and it felt amazing. The feeling that Beth owned my cock and myself completely spread through me filling me with a mixture of fear and pleasure. After about a minute of suckling and swirling her big tongue around my pulsing cock to make it erupt. As I came, Beth clamped down on me sucking, greedily like my dick was a big straw. My cock softened, but Beth kept going. The continued stimulation became agonizing. I squirmed and twitched in discomfort. She kept going. The intensity was nearly too much. I was now writhing. Finally I’d had enough.

“Please, stop!” I begged. Tears ran down my cheeks.

Beth finally released me from her mouth. She brought me back down to her eye level and gazed into my face. Her big tongue slithered out from between her smiling lips and licked them, savoring her meal, I suppose.

“That was so tasty babe. Your cum, your discomfort, your pleasure, they all blended together in the most scrumptious way.”

“Well,” I said sniffing, “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Mmm,” she smirked. “But you might not like this next bit.”

She released me and I fell eight feet, plopping onto the bed. The impact was strong, but like everything else since Beth altered me, it didn’t hurt that much.

“Get ready!” Beth said, turning around and wiggling her huge ass above my puny body.

“For wha-?” I was interrupted as Beth’s underside slammed down into me, hard.

“For Beth’s big butt.”

The bed creaked, seemed about to collapse under our, but mostly her, weight. Then all at once it stopped.

“That’s better.” Beth said. “Can’t have the bed collapse in the middle of our fun, can we? I used my new abilities to reinforce it just like I did for your tender little body.”

Thanks to those changes, the full impact of Beth’s enormous wide butt, with most of her weight on top of it, hadn’t broken any of my bones. She raised herself off of me slightly then scooted back along my body until her big vulva hovered right above my face, which, at Beth’s size, was more than big enough to cover my entire face, possibly even fit my head inside based on the fisting I’d given her. Her light musk wafted down leaving a tingle in my nostrils.

I heard Beth’s muffled voice coming from on high. “My turn, again! This time I’m not going to let up until you get me off at least a couple times.”

Beth hovered her package above me slightly moving left and right, building my anticipation, which I’m sure was the point, and I knew that whenever I reached that peak of anticipation mixed with dread, that’s when it would rush down to engulf me. Until then though, Beth loomed.