Tummy Trouble

Written by Jeremy Wong

            The Hilly’s were a normal family living in a normal household. There was the father, the mother, and the child, Billy Hilly, who everyone called Silly Billy. He loved to eat candy, sweets, and cookies. Everyday, he would sneak out and eat sweets until his tummy was full. One night, Silly Billy sneaked out of his room at night to steal a chocolate chip cookie. His mother, who was still awake, caught Silly Billy.

            “Now Silly Billy, how many times do I have to tell you? You can’t have another chocolate chip cookie or you’ll have a tummy ache,” Silly Billy’s mother said.

            “But Mama, if you let me have this one, I promise not to eat anymore,” Silly Billy whined.

            “No Silly Billy. Now go to bed. It’s past your bedtime,” his mother instructed, and Silly Billy did as he was told.

            Silly Billy waited until his mother was asleep to try and take a chocolate chip cookie. Once he heard his mother go to her room, Silly Billy walked out of his room and into the kitchen. He opened the cookie jar and reached for some chocolate chip cookies. He ate them one after the other until there were no more left. Then, he ate every Snacker, Mars Bar, Spoony Moony, and Looney Tooney Stick until he was full. Then, topping it off, he ate all of the ice cream in the freezer. Silly Billy had filled in his yummy pink-bellied tummy and walked back to his room and fell asleep.

            The next morning, Silly Billy woke up with his mother staring at him.

            “Silly Billy, did you eat all of the sweets last night?” his mother asked.

            Silly Billy burped and the smell of the sweets entered the mother’s nostrils.  

            “Oh, Silly Billy. How am I ever going to get you to learn?” his mother sighed.

            Silly Billy felt his stomach hurt, and looked at it. To his surprise, it was very big and very round, like a gumball, but a hundred times bigger.

            “Oh no, Mama. My stomach is too big! It wasn’t like this yesterday night,” Silly Billy wailed.

            “Well, it serves as a good punishment for now. Why don’t we go eat breakfast, Silly Billy? I’ve made pancakes and eggs sunny-side up,” his mother said.

            “I don’t want to,” Silly Billy said, “I don’t feel hungry at all.”

His mother was worried. Silly Billy was always hungry. His mother couldn’t feel right when her child didn’t eat breakfast. Silly Billy couldn’t find his appetite to eat breakfast before going off to school. His mother left Silly Billy alone in his room as he got dressed. His yummy, pink-bellied tummy was oversized that it couldn’t be covered by his shirt. At school, he had trouble fitting in his chair and his stomach reached the desk. Silly Billy’s stomach was so large; he couldn’t get his backpack from the cubbies because his stomach kept pushing his things back in. He was both sad and embarrassed that he had this belly because nobody else in the class was as fat as he was, except for Sloppy Joe, who was given that name because he ate so many Sloppy Joes that he became fat.

            After school Silly Billy, dragging alone his yummy pink-bellied tummy, cried to his mother,

            “Why, oh why, do I have this tummy?” whined Silly Billy.

            “We have to go to the doctor to find out,” his mother said.

            And so, his mother decided to take Silly Billy to the doctor so that the doc could tell Silly Billy how to get rid of his over-sized tummy.

            When they finally got to the doctor’s office, Silly Billy continued whining about his stomach.

            After a while, they went inside an examination room and took a seat. Dr. Snuffles took measurements and ran tests, and finally came to a conclusion.

            “Your son has the Bloat-McFloat Disease, Mrs. Hilly. You must be extra careful he doesn’t eat any sweets for the next week, or his stomach will become yummier,” the doctor said.

            “You mean fatter,” the mother corrected.

            Silly Billy and his mother left the doctor’s office and went home.

            “Now Silly Billy, do as the doctor tells you. No more cookies. No more candy. No more sweets. Your body can’t take it right now,” his mother said.

            “Alright,” Silly Billy sighed.

            On the first day, Silly Billy didn’t eat any sweets. On the second day, however, Silly Billy couldn’t resist, and sneaked into the kitchen to get the bag of candy bars and gumballs out of the closet. Silly Billy’s mother came into the room before Silly Billy had a chance to eat any of them.

            “Oh no, Silly Billy,” his mother said.

            “Mama, it’s not what it looks like,” Silly Billy said.

            She frowned when she looked at Silly Billy, but at the same time, she was sad that her son wasn’t able to resist sweets. “Silly Billy, you must stop tempting yourself from eating sweets. Now I know it must be hard for you, but you have to listen to the doctor’s orders.”

“But mama, it’s taking too long,” cried Silly Billy.

“There is a faster way you can lose your enormous tummy, but you must do exactly as I tell you,” she said. “You must exercise properly.”

            “Is it going to be easy?” asked Silly Billy, who calmed himself down.

            “No, it isn’t. You’re going to have to restrain yourself by controlling what you eat,” his mother replied.

            “B-b-but I can’t,” Silly Billy stuttered.

            “Yes you can. I know you can,” his mother reassured him. “Just say this: I’m going to diet. I’m going to exercise. I’m going to lose this yummy, pink-bellied tummy!”

            “I-I-I’m going to diet. I’m going to exercise. I’m going to lose this yummy, pink-bellied tummy!” repeated Silly Billy.

            His mother was there to reassure him every single day. His mother pushed Silly Billy to go on a vegetarian diet, eating only vegetables. She also pushed Silly Billy to do some physical activity each day, like hopscotch, running, sit-ups, or playing in the garden, catching butterflies in the summer day. And this process repeated for a whole month. Slowly, Silly Billy lost his yummy, pink-bellied tummy after a while and it became a yummy, pink-bellied tummy. After that, his yummy, pink-bellied tummy just became a plain-ol’ tummy under his shirt.

            “Mama, look, my stomach is back to normal!” Silly Billy told his mother. His mother was proud of him, and kissed him on the cheek.

            “That’s great, Silly Billy. Why don’t you help yourself to one chocolate chip cookie as a reward?” his mother offered.

            “No, that’s fine,” said Silly Billy. “I think I’ll stay away from sweets from now on.” But Silly Billy was joking, and took that chocolate chip cookie. He hugged his mother and said, “I’m glad you were here for me, mama.”