Candy Hangover

BRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPP! A tiger cub let out a huge belch, patting his slightly distended tummy as he lay proudly amongst a pile of wrappers and other litter. His parents had told him not to before they went to bed, but he had done it; the tiger cub had just finished off his Halloween candy, within an hour of returning from getting it no less, and was quite pleased with himself. He lay down in the mess he had created, letting out another loud burp as he tried to rub his stomach to soothe it more. It was useless at this point, but he didn’t know that in his young mind, so he just went about petting it more to try and calm it. Laying down and rubbing alone wasn’t going to do it in his mind, but standing was starting to seem like a foreign concept to him as he began to feel the true effects of his unabashed gluttony set in. He wanted something to drink to calm his innards though, and come hell or high water he was going to get it; he was a stubborn cub after all.

He willed himself to his feet after a moment or two of rocking back and forth, which made his stomach considerably more angry. More belches and an uncomfortable groan came from the poor, stuffed tiger’s muzzle as he braced himself against the wall. Using said wall for support, he stumbled to the door while clutching his stomach in his free paw. He shouldn’t have eaten all that candy, but his parents telling him not to made him do it. He could handle it too, he just needed something to drink to wash all that sugar down, and he would be fine. That, and maybe to brush his teeth too; the stories of cavities at school had him as terrified as all the costumes he had seen outside.

He had to quietly sneak out of his room and down the hall to the kitchen, as his parent’s were sound asleep in the next room from his. His father snored like a chainsaw, which did help his situation, as on all fours and swaying drunkenly like he was, it was hard to keep quiet. Little groans and whimpers came from him with every footfall he made, and the footfalls weren’t light ones like he usually made with his feline footpaws. These were thuds, as he trudged along on all fours still using a wall for support. Each step felt like a monumental amount of effort, but it would all be worth it to his parched throat and rebellious stomach, as both were demanding some milk, or water, or anything liquid for that matter.

It seemed to take an eternity, but he finally stumbled into the kitchen and slinked over to the refrigerator. Stepping on the quick release, he popped the door open and peered in. Water sat on the bottom shelf, easily within reach normally, but just extending that far to get it seemed like a task for the overburdened, and overstuffed cub’s body. He went for in for it anyways, stretching as best he could and nudging the container over to the edge with a few brushes of his muzzle. The tricky part was after that though, as he somehow had to get the container to the floor without spilling much and without dropping it. Normally he just drank from there, but unless he was able to boost himself up he wasn’t going to have a change in hell at that.

It was then that he thought of taking a pillow and using it to boost himself up to reach. It wouldn’t make noise when he dragged it to the fridge, didn’t weight much, and would prevent him from having to put the water back. So, with his stomach still in knots and groaning in protest to all the sugary sweets in it, the small cub set off for the main room of his family’s small home. The trek there wasn’t necessarily long, but he didn’t have walls to hold him up, so he was far more off balance and whiny about his trip now since it was more strain on his tired body. He made it though, and nabbed the first pillow he could in his chocolate-stained teeth. He then started tugging it back to the fridge, barely needing any effort to move the light thing. It looked thick enough for him to stand on and reach too, so he hoped there would be no problems.

He made it back to the fridge in a few minutes, his stomach starting to calm from all the work he was doing as it had been given a chance to make sense of all that had been stuffed in it. The poor thing still hurt quite a bit, but it was at least more tolerable than it had been when the cub had started his travels around the house. He still was worried about hoping up onto the pillow, as now that it was in front of the fridge he finally got to see how high it was, and just how much work it would be for him to get up on it to reach the water. He needed to muster up every bit of resolve in his tiny feline body, and with a will as defiant as his, he was even willing to go up against his body. He only hoped that he wouldn’t regret the decision to do so as he got himself into pouncing position.

He leapt, and instantly felt a sharp pain in his gut. He managed to land on the pillow, but not without wincing and letting out a pained whine. That had jostled his innards more than he wanted, and he had to let them settle for a moment before attempting his next trick: reaching the water. He just stood still for a minute, eyes screwed shut and his stomach swaying very slowly like a large bolder beneath his midsection. It hurt horridly, and just when it had stopped hurting too. He was tempted to call his whole expedition off and just go lay in bed, probably where he would go into a mini sugar-coma. He was determined to do his plan though, so he leaned forward as far as he dare once his stomach had stopped its latest round of complaints and dipped his tongue into the dish of water.

The cub was too young to grasp the taste of victory, but if he had been able to, he would have been utterly embraced by it as that first lick of water came into his muzzle. He got another, then another, and was soon guzzling water down like a weary traveler in the desert. It felt so good, all the cooling liquid flowing down his throat and into his stomach where it met with the candy and soothed some of the pain. It wasn’t much in terms of pain relief, but he wasn’t thirsty anymore after several gulps, and that was enough for him. He considered the mission accomplished, and backed his head slowly out of the dish as he felt his taut stomach slosh even more now that it was packed to the brim with water and sugar. It was just as painful as before for the thing to slosh, but if he managed to hold still, it wasn’t as bad. He couldn’t hold still though, as he still needed to shut the fridge and put the pillow away, as well as get off the pillow. The latter was the hardest part, and the first part to boot, so he gritted his little teeth and went for it almost immediately.

It hurt to land, but not as bad as before as the water did help his tummy keep the candy from sloshing around as much. It still did, and it still made the cub wince and let out a faint meow of pain, but he recovered far faster than before. He was on the home stretch of his adventure, and was going to finish it off perfectly. So with that resolve in his mind, he began the long task of tugging the pillow back into the main room. It was far easier than before, but it still wasn’t a trip he liked nor wanted to do. He didn’t even bother putting the pillow back perfectly; close enough was good enough for his tired frame.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he trudged back to the fridge and bumped it closed with his nose. He was careful not to slam it, so that nothing in the door would make noise. It didn’t slam though, so he was pleased and set off towards his bed for the long, tedious trudge down the hallway. It was made harder by his dad having rolled onto his side or something, as he was no longer snoring as loudly. This meant less noise cover for the cub, but as long as he was careful he knew he could make it. He watched for creaky floorboards, and made sure to open his door just barely wide enough to let himself in, as any wider would make it squeak.

Once inside his room, he gently shut his door before padding right over to his pile of candy wrappers and flopping down in it. He winced as he made such a careless move, but quickly sighed as he rolled onto his side and let his distended gut get some breathing room. It was still angry and uncomfortable, but at least the cub had worn himself out and could get some sleep now. As he lay there, he recounted what he had just done with a certain amount of pride. He had eaten all his candy and snuck out of his room unnoticed, a feat which made him even more proud of himself as he lay there and let his eyes slowly fall shut. Stretching as only cats could, he let out a loud yawn before curling up as much as he dare. A pleased smile plastered itself on his muzzle while he lay amongst the litter, drifting off to a dreamland of chocolate houses and gumdrop rainbows.

**********

“Honey, you heard him leave his room right?”

“Yup, heard all those wrappers too.”

“You stocked up on the stomach medicine right?”

“I was a cub too once Mila, I made sure to have it ready.”

“Good… Should we get him in trouble tomorrow morning?”

“I think the candy hangover will be enough. Now get some sleep Mila, we’re going to have a long day tomorrow.”

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