The three stepped into the mall. The cool conditioned air blew through their fur. Cecilia and Denice took off their sunglasses. The tall raccoon placed her white shades in the case and slid it into her purse. Cecilia placed hers in her small handheld pouch. The third member, a bulky pink otter traced her blue eyes all over the setting. A speckled linoleum floor very wide and long, with the signs of department stores along the walls and the floor dotted with smaller mobile vendors.

“It’s blistering out there” sighed Denice.

“I need a refresher, why are we here again?” Asked Ripple

“So we can get you some more outfits!” Cecilia chimed in

“And some things for ourselves. Cecilia you’re in desperate need of a new bag and I need to get more designer shades. These are flimsy, everything’s still too bright.”
“I don’t see why I can’t just wear what makes me comfortable. Even this feels too bulky.” Ripple gestured to her current outfit. A deep green tank top with only one shoulder strap and a skirt the same color with golden trim.

“I think that looks great on you!” Cecilia shouted. Denice agreed with a nod. “Sure there’s no law against going wild, but fashion gives you so many options. And no one likes people gawking at them.”
Interrupting their conversation came the blare of a train whistle with the subpar sound quality of a speaker. Cecilia smiled at the site as a small train on wheels carted mall patrons across the vast shopping center. “Let’s get going already! To Volia!”

The mouse walked briskly and her friends followed. Volia was the name of the most popular department venue, known for selling designer clothes for all shapes and sizes. They went in and began browsing. There were outfits in many sizes, color and shapes. Short tail sleeves were in fashion as opposed to having just an opening, all the mannequin displays showing off cotton pants with the feature on the back. It was intriguing, but Cecilia preferred tails sleeveless. She was eyeing a pair of silk pants, pinching the soft fabric of the waist between her digits and pressing it against her pelvis for an easy comparison.

“Very nice, but hardly seasonal. You sure you don’t want an outfit like mine?” Said Denice, gesturing to her blue capris and short red top that kept her grey midriff on display.

“I think I could, but I don’t see anything that speaks to me.”

“Not even this?” Denice then thrust an outfit into the mouse’s arms. It was a short yellow top like hers only sleeveless, and with a green heart in the center of the chest. The bottom was a short frilled skirt. “Wow, this one is perfect for summer. What do you think, Ripple?” The pink otter padded over to the group carrying some bags. “I haven’t found anything worth wearing myself, but these bags would be great for gathering ingredients.” She showed them off to the mouse and raccoon, large purses in dull colored leather. A blue bag, a yellow sling bag and a green fanny pack. Cecilia reached for the sling bag. “Oh this is neat! Very cute.” Said the mouse

“Super cute, but I think it’s a bit small.” Added Denice

“Not to me. Hey Ripple, you should try this.” Cecilia passed the silk pants to the otter. She felt the fabric in her paws and her eyes went wide. “Oh my surf, this is so soft! Where’d you find it?” Cecilia gestured to the display of silk clothing. Ripple browsed through it with glee. She found shirts, pants and shorts all made of same soft material. She made a pile of them in her arms “I think I will try these!” She said and went to the fitting room. Denice beckoned Cecilia with a single finger to have her follow. They all went to the fitting rooms together.
Cecilia put on her yellow dress. She looked over how it hugged her frame in the mirror. She traced the purple line on her exposed midriff, then touched the green heart on her chest. She was very happy with the look. Cecilia stepped out of the room to show the others.

“Darling you look gorgeous.” Said Denice, now in a white dress cut short to the knees. “It’s nice to see that beautiful pattern you’ve got going, but what’s this I see?” The raccoon leaned down to poke below Cecilia’s navel, there was a pocket of soft flab that distended the mouse’s belly a noticeable, but small amount. The mouse’s ears turned bright red. Denice saw this and smirked. “Oh don’t fret, I know a routine that can get that off in a half-hour. No pressure though, I think it’s cute.”

Next came out Ripple dressed in a grey sleeveless silk shirt with long silk pants of the same color. The light material was loose on her and the fabric glistened with every movement. The otter’s two friends swarmed her with praise and compliments.

“That looks great!” Exclaimed Cecilia

“You are fantastic fit for that look dear. The outfit shines as much as you.”

The pink otter twirled to the applause of her friends. “You really like this look? I’m glad it’s not as bulky as other clothes I’ve tried”

“Functional and fashionable. I think it looks super nice.”

“I agree with Cecilia. Those colors really make you pop.”

Ripple was smiling ear to ear, “thank you two…” Denice took a step back into the changing room. Cecilia stole one more hug from her otter friend and they both changed back into the clothes they came with. Once all their picks were in a bag with a receipt Denice chimed in. “If we’re done shopping for outerwear, I’d like to stop by for innerwear.”

“Do you think they have any made of silk?” Asked Ripple

“I’m sure they do, but silk is kinda one-note and not the most comfortable thing to wear down there.” She paused and turned to her short friend. “Well Cecilia, I think we know where we’re headed next. Are you gonna join us?”

“Sure, I’ll browse, but I don’t think I really need anything.”
“Good enough for me.”

They made a brisk walk to the lingerie boutique. It was a flowery place, dimly lit with yellow walls and drawers full of intimate clothing items for sale. Ripple grazed her paw over the selection for garments with that same amazing smooth texture. She found lavender silk panties and lowered them to her waist. The pair turned out to be far too small for her hips. Everyone was picking out something for themselves. Even Cecilia was holding some yellow lace garments. Then someone else entered the small store. A large female meerkat in an outfit similar to Denice’s. A short green and blue plaid shirt and blue Jean shorts. “I thought I smelled someone familiar. I this bargain franchise store is perfect for someone like you Denice. Or are you still picking out things to snatch and run away with.”
The raccoon narrowed her yellow eyes to a glare. “Not at all, Brittany. I don’t need to spend a fortune to look good unlike you.”

“Of course, you’d rather not spend anything at all. I think I can see where you cut the theft tags off your outfit.”

The meerkat took a look around at the otter and mouse. “Is this the crowd you’re hanging out with now? A burly otter and a schoolgirl mouse?”
Denice huffed and placed her selection of clothes on the display table. “I’ve heard enough, I’m not going to let you talk to my friends like that. Let’s get out of here.” Denice rushed out of the boutique and her friends followed. When they were far enough away Cecilia addressed her friend. “Who was that? Why were they so mean?”
Denice shook her head with disappointment. “Someone that used to be a friend back before I met you. We got into the the same kind of trouble together, none of us had much and we needed each other to survive. But then Brittany found herself a wealthy business owner to marry and she left me behind without so much of a goodbye. She’s been rubbing it in my face ever since. She’s not worth talking about, so let’s find somewhere else to be. I’m ready to stop by the food court.”
They all stopped by a creamery and took their milkshakes to a round table. Ripple stirred her drink with the straw before taking a sip. “Why did she call me a school girl? Do I really look like that young?” Cecilia said.

“Of course not Cecilia, you know I don’t see you that way.” Denice replied.

“If you give me 45 minutes outside I bet I could put something together to make that Brittany really young.” Ripple said with a wink

“Don’t bother, girls. She’s not worth it. She’s so shallow she’ll never have what we do.”

“But I hope she learns to be better, to be happy and have friends.”

“That’s very sweet of you Cecilia, I guess deep down I want that too. But it hurts to know that even after being together, she probably never considered me a friend.”

A hefty fennec with cream and yellow fur stepped past. She was wearing a big purple dress that covered most of her fur, but her tail was left swishing around. It had a unique pattern of a white base and yellow cream-colored spots near the tip that looked like fizzy bubbles. If one stared long enough they could swear the bubbles were moving. Rising from the bottom to the top like in a glass of soda. Cecilia’s ears perked up and she stared at the fennec drinking a large cup of soda. She stared even longer and then her eyes went wide. “Abby?!” She shouted from the table. The fennec turned around and her ears of the same bubbling pattern turned red. She lowered her muzzle and walked faster. “Wait!” Cecilia kept from her chair and dashed over to the fennec with her other friends becoming onlookers from the table.

“Abby, it’s me Cecilia! I haven’t seen you in so long. What’s going on? What happened with you and the magazine?” You used to be smaller.”

“Oh that darned magazine, I don’t know how you can work for them still. THEY did this to me.”
Cecilia looked up and down her portly friend. “They did this? How?”

“Your adventuring articles are so darn popular. Since you’re on break they thought it’d be a good idea to send me on an expedition like yours. They said they wanted me to do a survival article on the tundra and sent me to a remote spot. Well they didn’t say ANYTHING about the crazy geysers of soda over there or the fizzy cola rivers, or the aluminum huts or even the wacky wolverine shamans that worship sugar and carbonation.”

Cecilia nodded with concern in her eyes. “And then what? Why do you look different?”
Abby rolled up her sleeves, it was true, on her thick arms of white fur were animated bubbles of a yellowish cream color. They flowed from her shoulder to her claw tips, bubbling like soda. “Something happened to me over there before I got the chance to high tail it. It’s hard to explain, but somehow my body got FUSED with cream soda. I can taste it on my tongue, because it runs THROUGH MY BLASTED VEINS. Plain water doesn’t hydrate me anymore, I need sugary soda or my blood pressure goes down and I lose energy. Eating food doesn’t do anything for me anymore either, not that I can taste very well. I can only have sugar. And you would think ‘oh! Well I guess my body is putting all that sugar to good use if I can’t digest anything else right?’ NO! I’M STILL GETTING FAT!”
Cecilia embraced her friend in a hug. With her nose close to her fur the mouse could smell the cream soda fragrance Abby was naturally giving off.

“I’m so sorry this is happening to you. It’s my fault you’re like this. If I hadn’t been such a big hit for the Neapolitan they would’ve never done that to you.”

“No Cecilia, I don’t blame you at all. You’d never hurt me even if you had to. It’s all them. If they weren’t so greedy they’d let me do my articles the way I always have.”

“Have you been to the doctor? Have you talked to a lawyer? There’s got to be something you can do.”

“Doctor gave me a basic idea of how my body works before he wanted to parade me around the hospital. I had to get out of there. And a lawyer can’t help since I signed the contract against suing if something goes wrong.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’ll talk to them. They know better than to try that shady stuff with me. And I’m not going let them get away with hurting my friend. So what are you gonna do now?”

“Well I was picking up new clothes because I’ve outgrown everything I own. Then I got hungry, er thirsty rather. I always need a cup of soda in my paw now because I can’t go more than an hour without having to drink something. I don’t know how long I’m gonna last. I’m just gonna keep getting bigger, and everyone thinks I don’t have the sense to take care of myself. I survived a whole month in the jungle with nothing! I built my own wood house with rope and an axe! Hufff… my career is over. You can’t find soda in the wilderness... I-I should go…”

“No way, you’re with me now. We’re gonna help any way we can. Right girls?”

Cecilia brought her friend to the table with Ripple and Denice. Abby introduced herself and told the story of how she came to know Cecilia. Then she gave the short version of her current situation.

“Your whole body’s been infused with cream soda? I’ve never heard of anything like that. If you’re okay with it I could try an advanced cure-all back at my place. Takes a while to brew but I’ve got a couple doses in storage already.” Said Ripple

“If that doesn’t work I know a guy who owns a soda shop in town. I’ve done plenty of ‘favors’ for him so he owes me big. You wouldn’t have to buy another case until the sun goes out.”

“And before we go we can stop by Viola again to get you a new wardrobe.”

Abby smiled, her best friend and two new ones offering to help nearly brought her to fizzy tears. “Thanks everyone. I deeply appreciate it.”

The four friends got up, all with drinks in their paws and headed back to the department store to start a second round.