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Andrea

by Michael.


-------------------------------------------------------


It had been two years since Andrea had lost the only 
person in her life that really mattered; her son Cory. 
Every night she would go onto his room, and lie on his 
bed, even though she knew he was gone she could still 
smell him, she could still hear his voice. Everything 
that mattered in her life was now meaningless to her. 
Food had no flavor, colors seemed dull and bland, and 
the world seemed empty and cold. She hated what her 
life had become. Night after night she would decide to 
go out and try to break away from her torturous 
existence every night she failed. She tried dating, but 
when she got close to anyone a sense of guilt would 
overcome her "how can I be happy again?" she would 
think to herself. Her self pity and guilt ate her world 
away and left an empty shell. 

Monday February 9 Andrea went on to her work and, as 
she had for nearly a decade, she checked her e-mail. 
There was a message form her boss requesting her 
presence in the board room at 9:00 sharp.

She arrived at exactly 9:00, and entered the room. Her 
boss, Mr Fenton, was a pleasant 50 year old man. He was 
a short, bald, generous and understanding man. Andrea 
had known him since she had first graduated from 
University, in fact it was Mr Fenton who had taken a 
chance on her and given her a job when there were 
other, more qualified candidates available.

"Ah Andrea, how are you this morning?" He asked.

"I'm fine David," she replied " how are you."

"Well, to be perfectly honest with you Andrea," he said 
"I've been better. We have to talk."

"OK , about what."

"I have to let you go Andrea," He said "I'm so sorry 
and this wasn't my decision, but I have to let you go."

"David, I can't loose my job, this is all I have." She 
pleaded "Why are you doing this?"

"This isn't just me Andrea, this is all the partners." 
David was talking in a slow and caring manner as he 
explained

"We know what you have been through, losing your son. I 
can't even begin to fathom the loss you must feel. But 
this is a business and your work has been very poor for 
over a year now and it is deteriorating fast. We have 
lost a lot of money Andrea and we just can't continue 
working with an employee who is harming the 
corporation." 

"I am feeling better David." Andrea pleaded "I really 
am and I can change..get better."

"I'm sorry Andrea, but it's too late." David handed her 
a plain white envelope. Andrea opened it and pulled out 
a letter, the letter informed her of her termination, 
effective one month from the day. It made provisions 
for a very generous separation package payable 
effective March 9 or immediately less one months 
salary.

"This is....generous David." She said.

"I had to threaten to leave to get you that Andrea, you 
deserve it. Take a little time off try to get on with 
your life." David approached her. "I wish things didn't 
have to be this way Andrea. If you need anything, a 
reference, just let me know OK?"

"OK." Andrea tried not to cry "thank you, I'll leave 
today if you don't mind."

"Not at all." David watched as she left the room. 

Andrea cleaned the things out of her desk. Papers, 
pictures and a few other items. She piled them into a 
file box, picked them up and left the office without 
saying good bye to anyone. Back in his office Mr Fenton 
summoned Andrea's assistant.

"Yes sir," the young woman said as she entered the 
office.

"I know you want to get a shot at the big time Ms. 
Pierce." He said "I guess I'm giving you your chance. 
Please assume all of Andrea's accounts....and her 
station."

"Thank you sir." The newly promoted Ms. Pierce replied 
"I'll get on it right away."

"No, Ms. Peirce, stay at your own desk for the rest of 
today." David ordered. Too much change in a day upsets 
people. You can leave now....congratulations."

Andrea had no idea what she would do, she had no job, 
no son, no life. What scared her the most was the scary 
thought that she had no one and no direction. She 
arrived home at 9:45, she sat on the couch and looked 
around her room.

"Nothing new, but why should anything be new. I haven't 
done anything here for ages." she said as if someone 
were listening. Next she started to laugh, she laughed 
until her stomach ached but soon however her laughs 
turned into cries.

"What the hell am I going to do now?" she sobbed to 
herself "what the hell am I going to do?"

For weeks she didn't leave the house, she just sat 
around doing nothing buy watch TV and she was getting 
more than a little sick of Jerry Springer and Friends 
re-runs. She wished she had died that night with her 
little boy, she wished she could have died INSTEAD of 
her little boy. One evening the phone rang, Andrea 
hadn't heard from anyone in weeks so she wondered who 
it could be.

"Andrea," the voice said "how are you dear."

"Bernie, I'm OK I guess." Andrea was trying to sound 
happy, but was not very convincing. "What can I do for 
you?"

"You can come down to Phoenix on the 25th." Bernie said 
"it's that time of year."

"Do you have anyone?" Andrea asked 

"No not yet," we don't think we will get anyone this 
year at the rate things are going." Bernie replied, the 
tone of her voice was less than thrilled.

"Bernie, I have a question for you......"

Many things had changed at the Ranch. Kirks sudden 
death a year earlier had nearly destroyed Bernie, all 
she could do was look out the window at the ranch he 
had loved so much and try to imagine that he was in the 
barn or maybe gone to town for supplies. He wouldn't be 
back Bernie knew it and she tried to accept it every 
day; and for the most part she had, Bernie was a very 
strong woman. However every once on a while she felt 
alone, desperate and alone. She knew what it meant to 
loose someone she loved, and was confident she could 
help her friend deal with the pain of losing a loved 
one. 

The day was May 23. Andrea's plane was arriving at 2:45 
PM. Bernie was there to greet her.

"Andy, I have to ask you. Are you sure about this? I 
mean have you really thought about this?" Bernie was 
concerned about her friend.

"Yes I am Bernie." Andrea said confidently "I really am 
sure. Can we talk about this when we get back to your 
place? I just want to think for a while."

"Sure Andrea." Bernie said as she took Andrea's bag "we 
can and will talk about this later."

Driving out to the ranch seemed to take forever Bernie 
thought. It was hot outside, really hot and the van's 
air conditioning wasn't what it used to be. Bernie 
thought to herself that it was time to get a new 
vehicle. Andrea just sat looking out the window at the 
flat dry plain that seemed to stretch on for an 
eternity. Bernie tried to get a conversation going a 
few times but Andrea was clearly not in the talking 
frame of mind. Bernie decided to just let silence 
dominate the trip back to the ranch, she didn't even 
turn the radio on.

It was when they 4:00 they arrived at Bernie's ranch. 
Bernie got stopped the van, put it into park and got 
out. Andrea sat there for a few minutes before getting 
leaving the sweltering hot vehicle for the comfort of 
Bernie's air conditioned home.

"Andy, we have to talk." Bernie said. "And this can't 
wait."

"Ok let's talk." Andrea said as she got a glass of 
juice from the fridge.

"I am really uncomfortable with the position you have 
put me in Andrea. I haven't served a friend at the 
party before. And I know that the guests haven't been 
faced with eating one of their friends before." Bernie 
seemed uneasy "I don't know if I can do this, haven't 
we lost enough people this year? Kirk, Cory."

"I want this though Bernie." Andrea pleaded "I didn't 
just think about it after Cory died, I have been 
seriously thinking about this since that guy back in 
'93."

"I have thought about it also but I would never do 
it....Andrea when you go on you die, you really die. 
Andrea, you are 28 years old...that's young why throw 
it away? " Bernie asked 

"I don't think I am throwing anything away, I am doing 
what I want to do and if you will let me I'll be doing 
it where I want to be doing it." Andrea paused for a 
second "If you can't do this anymore I'd understand."

"I don't have a problem doing people that we, I mean I 
would contact for the purpose of being cooked here." 
Bernie explained "But I do have a problem doing you. 
You're real, I hate using this word but the "long pigs" 
we get aren't part of my life, they really don't matter 
to me. I try to accommodate them but their usefulness 
to me as meat is way more important to me than their 
personal traits. I don't miss any of them, A lot of 
people would miss you Andrea."

"How do you do it?" Andrea asked.

"How do I do what?" Bernie asked back

"How do you deal with losing Kirk?" Andrea said 
"everything around here must remind you of him."

"I just do....." Bernie explained "everything around 
here does remind me of him, but I can also remember the 
good times. I can look at my kids and see him."

"I can't do that Bernie!!!!!" Andrea screamed out in 
anger and frustration "I can't do that! Cory is dead, 
everything that reminds me of him is doesn't mean shit 
without him!...........I'm sorry"

"It's OK, I shouldn't have brought up Todd and 
Adriana." Bernie said quietly "I'm really sorry. But 
you know that we lost our daughter when she was 
eighteen months old, and Kirk and I were able to deal 
with it. You can to."

"Yeah but you weren't alone, you had Kirk and two other 
Kids." Andrea then abruptly changed the subject. "How 
are Todd and Adriana?"

"Todd graduates from University this year and Adriana 
and her husband are living in Vienna. Things are going 
well for them. They are coming this year, but they 
won't be landing until 10:00 on the 31st so they will 
miss most of the party. They're staying for a few weeks 
though."

"So I guess I won't see them." dead panned Andrea.

"I hope you will." Bernie reached her hand out and 
placed it on Andrea's forearm. "You will."

"Look Bernie, I know what I want, and I know that you 
can do it for me." Andrea stated as she looked directly 
into Bernie's eyes. "One way or another I will get what 
I want, your party isn't the only one of it's kind you 
know?"

"I know." Bernie replied

Continuing Andrea said "but I'd be happier knowing I 
was going to someone I know....and some people I care 
about."

"OK, Andy." Bernie said. "I'll do it. "

"Bernie then proceeded to say "you can leave anytime 
until 7:00 on July 31. After that you become my 
property. I will have guests coming over from time to 
time and I expect you to interact with them. You get 
one meal a day, as big as you want and it can be 
whenever you want. I am not going to tell you how I 
will be preparing you until just before I actually do, 
but It will be as painless as possible. Any questions?"

"What about being naked all the time, and the shaving?" 
Andrea asked.

"That won't be necessary Andy, that is just to get our 
recruits on the defensive and let them know they are 
not a 'friendly guest' you are different."

"No, I don't want to be. You have to treat me like you 
did every other woman you have ever had here or I'll go 
somewhere else."

"But some of those other groups aren't 
exactly......friendly to their meals Andrea, they can 
do some pretty terrible things."

"I don't care, can we do this like you would anyone 
else or do I go find someone who will?" Andrea was 
demanding to be eaten. Bernie didn't know what to do so 
she did as she was asked.

"Ok Andrea, I 'll need you to go upstairs, strip and 
come back down here so I can shave you." Bernie then 
continued "you know which room to use don't you?" 

"Yeah I do." Andrea replied. "But before I go I'd like 
to know how many people are coming this year."

"Only about 10." Bernie answered "I want to keep it 
small this year."

"Can I make a few requests?" Andrea asked.

"Up to a point" Bernie looked at her "what did you have 
in mind?"

"I want to be live roasted, like Alesha was and I don't 
want you to invite Kevin or his retard family." 

"Kevin's clan wasn't going to be on my list anyway." 
Bernie paused for a moment "I don't want to say how 
I'll be cooking you Andrea, I don't know yet and I 
should be the one who decided, not you. If you want 
this to be done "by the book" you will have to live 
with that."

"Alright," Andrea said "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Five minutes passed and Andrea came into the kitchen, 
she was completely nude as she should be. Bernie 
noticed immediately that she was quite thin. Her long 
blonde hair was smooth and fell loosely about her firm 
breasts. Her skin was pale and smooth.

Bernie asked her to get on the counter, Andrea jumped 
up on the counter.

"Ok I'm going to shave you now, just lay still and when 
I ask yo to I'll need you to spread your legs for me." 
Bernadette then proceeded to shave Andrea's body until 
the only hair she had was on her head.

For the next two months they saw each other almost 
every day. Bernie had not invited anyone out to the 
ranch and had no intention of doing so. She had 
notified the guests that she had decided on and had 
told them that Andrea was going to be cooked for the 
meal. Some of the guests didn't believe her, others 
told her that she should do everything she could to get 
Andrea to change her mind, and surprisingly a couple of 
people expressed interest in having someone that they 
had known for a while. Only one family refused to come, 
they felt that is was wrong to use friends for the 
dinner, Bernie had no problem with their refusal and 
promised that a situation like this would never happen 
again. When she was finished she had formed a list of 4 
families and 18 guests, it was more than she had 
planned but far less than she had entertained in the 
past. 

One day in early June it was unbearably hot outside, 
the thermometer passed 115 the air conditioner did 
little and Bernie had decided that taking dips in the 
swimming pool was the only way to cool off. Andrea 
refused to go out the back door, she said that it would 
remind her of Cory since he loved the water and always 
could be found at the pool whenever he was here. 

"Andrea, just one swim." Bernie was practically 
pleading "if you get out back and are uncomfortable 
them you can come back in here.....just try."

"Ok, I'll be right out."

Andrea came out back she opened the screen door and 
walked out, the sun was beating down like a ton of 
bricks, but it felt good on her skin. She surveyed the 
huge yard. Directly across the kidney shaped pool was a 
blue, nylon long back lawn chair, it was the chair that 
Alesha was sitting in when Cory approached her a few 
summers ago. Andrea walked around the pool and stopped 
by the chair: she imagined the conversation her son may 
have had with the beautiful and very naked Alesha. She 
knew Cory would probably have been shy, he was shy 
around women and for him to approach a beautiful, naked 
woman must have been a huge task. Andrea was proud of 
Cory's bravery that day, it was his first step to ward 
being a man. She had always been proud of her son. 

Bernie watched Andrea staring at the chair, she had no 
idea why the chair held such fascination for Andrea but 
she was glad Andrea was outside. As Bernie watched 
Andrea slowly sat in the chair, but as her naked skin 
came into contact with the chair she jumped up, the 
chair was red hot.

"Ouch," Andrea exclaimed "Jesus Christ that is hot!!!

Bernie looked at her and started to laugh, Andrea 
embarrassed at first turned.

" I nearly burned my ass off!" Andrea began to laugh. 

Bernie and Andrea laughed for a while, it made Bernie 
glad to see her friend laughing. "Maybe she will change 
her mind." Bernie thought to herself.

On the 25th of July the guests arrived at the ranch, 
Andrea was still there. 

Charles and his wife Debbie pulled Bernie aside and 
began to question her in detail about the situation.

"Why are you letting her do this Bernie?" they asked.

"Because she threatened to go to one of the other 
groups if I didn't agree." Bernie told them. "I know 
this won't be easy if she stays but she is making 
improvements lately, she is making jokes and laughing, 
I don't think she will go through with this."

"But what if she does?" Charles asked.


"Then I WILL cook her, and I will serve her up to 
anyone who wants to eat her flesh." Bernie looked at 
them both and explained further "if she goes or we tell 
her no she might go to a less hospitable group. I don't 
want her to be eaten alive like that club in Florida is 
known to do to their volunteers. Or she could wind up 
on one of the islands in the Caribbean where they 
basically roast up dozens of girls and they all mean 
nothing. Here we can at least give her some respect and 
treat her in a dignified manner."

"I guess that makes sense." Debbie said "but I think we 
should all try talking her out of this."

"Debbie are you listening to me?" Bernie was annoyed 
"if we pressure her she will bolt, I guarantee it. What 
we have to do is treat her like she wasn't here as the 
meat. Maybe if she has some fun this week she will 
decide to go home and get on with her life."

"Ok, no pressure, but I think that she isn't well." 
Charles theorized "maybe she needs a Psychologist."

"She had one in L.A. she stopped going " Bernie replied 
"...felt it was a waste of time."

Charles and Debbie weren't the only guests to feel as 
they did, all the guests agreed with them. Bernie had 
to practically plead with them not to lecture Andrea 
about the virtues of life but they all felt it was 
necessary to do so. Finally after three days of the 
guests being uncomfortable around Andrea and Andrea 
being uncomfortable around the guests they all decided, 
against Bernie's wishes, to confront Andrea about her 
intentions. The goal of the group was to try and change 
her mind if possible, or accept her decision if she 
couldn't be swayed.

The day was July30th it was 2:30 in the afternoon. It 
was raining outside. Andrea was watching television in 
the living room with everyone else when Bernie got up 
and turned the TV off.

"Andrea we have to talk to you." Bernie said "and since 
we are all here this is the perfect time."

Andrea had been expecting this. "I knew this was 
coming, what do you all want to tell me? That I have a 
long life ahead of me? That I'm not thinking straight? 
Or maybe that I shouldn't put you all in this 
position?" she asked.

"Actually yeah, how can you put us in this position?" 
asked Mark, a steelworker from Pittsburgh who had 
arrived two days earlier with his wife and two sons. 
"Some of us have known you since you were a little 
girl, we knew your parents. Now you want us to eat you 
like we did those two the other summer...it isn't that 
easy Andy."

"It should be." Andrea replied "listen, I didn't just 
start thinking about this after I lost Cory, it started 
when I was 12 and came to my first party, I don't 
remember his name but I was fascinated watching the 
guy's body roast.....it was incredible. Then the other 
year when Bernie and Kirk had that redhead..what was 
her name?"

"Keri." Bernie added

"Yeah Keri." Andrea continued "watching her in the 
barbecue was the most erotic thing I had ever seen in 
my life. Then Alesha, she was actually awake for an 
hour while she was roasting, and able to communicate 
with us....God that was amazing! I knew as I watched 
Alesha's body browning and smelt her as she roasted 
that I wanted to experience what she had, and I want to 
be able to give others what she did. Except I knew I 
couldn't do it....not with a son, but now Cory is gone, 
he was my reason to live he was the reason I refused to 
let my desires take over...but now. I want to give 
myself to you all, I want you to experience this thrill 
with me. I want you all to watch me as I am cooking, 
smell my flesh and watch it turn brown. I want to be 
part of you all forever, then I won't be alone." Andrea 
stopped for a moment before continuing. "But most of 
all I want to be with my son again, and I won't just 
kill myself, I want to have my body mean something. I 
don't just want to be buried and forgotten"

Andrea's plea did not fall on deaf ears. The room was 
silent. Everyone looked at each other before looking at 
Andrea for a long minute. Finally a voice said.

"Is Cory in heaven?" Andrea looked at the little girl 
who had asked the question.

"Yes he is, and I don't want him t get lonely." Andrea 
replied.

"Is heaven a nice place?" another child asked her 
father.

"Yeah it is sweet heart." He looked at her lovingly "it 
is the most beautiful place you can imagine."

"Then why can't Andrea go there if she wants to?" The 
girl asked.

Andrea looked at the girl, she didn't know her, then 
group and said. "All I am asking is for you to go about 
this as you normally would. I am not going to leave. I 
hope that today is my last full day on earth. Tomorrow 
I want to give you, my friends the ultimate gift a 
person can....my life and my body. All I want is for 
you to accept it and enjoy it."

Silence, there was absolute silence in the room. 
Finally after a few minutes Bernie said: "do you still 
want to be live roasted like Alesha was?" Bernie paused 
for a second and looked at the guests "that is unless 
you leave before we get started."

"Yes Bernie." Andrea replied "I really so want to be 
live roasted, so that every one of you can see my last 
moments are peaceful."

The people nodded one by one, Andrea asked them if they 
were all ok with tomorrow. They all said they were, 
Andrea thanked them and went to her room. When she got 
there she looked at the picture of Cory that she had 
been keeping by her bed. She smiled, said "soon my 
beautiful boy, soon I'll be back where I belong" and 
fell asleep.

July 31 had arrived and Bernie woke up at about 11:00, 
she heard raindrops hitting her window. Rising out of 
bed she looked out the window of her second story room. 
The sky was dark grey and the rain was pouring down . 
She thought to herself that there was no way they could 
barbecue Andrea outside like she had planned. If Andrea 
chooses to stay Bernie would need a backup plan serving 
plan. 

Andrea and all of the guests were all up and about by 
2:00 in the afternoon. Bernie came into the basement 
where they had gathered to play pool.

"This rain isn't going to stop." She said "when it 
starts coning down like this it rains for a week or so, 
what should we do?"

Andrea looked worried, "you aren't going to cancel are 
you?" she asked

"No, but I won't be able to roast you like we had 
planned." Bernie explained. "I wonder if you would mind 
if we roasted you in the oven? The only alternative is 
butchering you and having a few roasts, but I know you 
wanted to go in alive so we could watch you."

"The oven is OK." Andrea said "will it take longer?"

"No, the oven should be faster, but you won't last as 
long in an oven as you would outside over an open 
roasting pit." Bernie estimated that Andrea would only 
last 10 or 15 minutes at the most.

"That is alright." Andrea said 

"Does anyone object to an oven roast?" Bernie asked no 
one did. 

Addressing the entire group Bernie continued. "Since 
the weather is so lousy outside I have an idea. If you 
are OK with this Andrea I would like to have the meal a 
little earlier this evening. That way everyone can pack 
up and be ready to leave tomorrow without having to 
rush and try to get home and settled in one day. And 
Todd and Adriana called: they will be here ahead of 
schedule."

"I don't have a problem with that Bernie." Andrea said.

The group all agreed that this plan was a good one, 
providing that Andrea was OK with it. Andrea had 
already said she was fine about doing it that 
afternoon, however Bernie felt it would be a good idea 
if Andrea took an hour to think about it carefully. 
Andrea went to her room, set her alarm to wake her in 
one hour and took a nap for the next 60 minutes, there 
was nothing to think about.

While Andrea was sleeping Bernie and Jody were hard at 
work peeling potatoes and making the salad and 
vegetables that would be accompanying Andrea at dinner 
tonight. Andrea would be served with garlic scalloped 
potatoes, caesar salad, steamed asparagus and 
cauliflower with hollandaise sauce. Jody and Bernie had 
put a lot of extra work into planning this years side 
dished because they had both hoped Andrea would not be 
here so having a high quality of other parts of the 
meal would make the guests feel as if the day wasn't a 
complete waste of time. 

Everything was going along right on schedule when the 
kitchen buzzer went off..it was three thirty. Andrea's 
time was up. For a few minuted Bernie thought she was 
gone, she felt oddly disappointed that Andrea may be 
gone but she still hoped there would not be a roast for 
the nights meal. At 3:35 Andrea came into the kitchen.

"I'm ready." Andrea said.

"Good, please get up on the island." Jody requested as 
Andrea approached the two women. Andrea got up on the 
island at the center of Bernie's kitchen. Andrea 
crawled up onto the island and laid on her back; her 
lower legs were hanging off the edge but she fit on the 
island very well, it was almost comfortable, albeit a 
little chilly. She watched Bernie approaching.

"I am going to anaesthetize you now Andrea, it will 
probably take a few minutes to kick in." Bernie said as 
she was filling a rather large syringe with a clear 
liquid. "After you are incapacitated we will gut you 
and clean out your abdomen. Then we will stuff you sew 
you shut, baste you with garlic butter, tie you into 
place and put you in the oven. I know that Alesha was 
alive for a long time last year but I really don't know 
how long you will last. You might be alive for your 
first basting, but I really doubt it." Bernie looked at 
her "I know that was a fast description, do you have 
any questions?"

"No, let's get going." Andrea replied.

Jody took the syringe from Bernie and injected it into 
Andrea's arm, she then refilled it and gave Andrea a 
second injection into her upper thigh. Within a few 
minutes Andrea couldn't feel or move her body. Bernie 
approached her with a butcher knife. Bernie began to 
cut Andrea open at the sternum, she carefully cut until 
she got to Andrea's pubic bone. She had Jody pull the 
two halves of Andrea's stomach to the side and she 
began to pull out Andrea's intestines, then the rest of 
her organs. She looked at Andrea and realized that she 
hadn't put anything in her mouth to prevent her from 
screaming, but she was absolutely quiet. Bernie looked 
at Andrea to see if she was conscious. 

Andrea was calmly looking at the roof when she asked: 
"are you done yet Bernie when can I look down?"

"Please don't talk Andrea," Jody said "try to be quiet 
until we have this done. If Bernie makes a mistake when 
tying off and searing your blood vessels It could kill 
you. But yeah, things are going great."

Andrea listened to Jody and continued looking at the 
roof. She could smell burning flesh just before Bernie 
told her that they were finished with the gutting 
process. Next Bernie and Jody called for Charles to 
help them take her to the sink where they could wash 
Andrea off. Charles helped carry Andrea's empty, limp 
body over to the sink.

"Be careful with her Charles, don't move her to quickly 
or something could rupture."

Charles heeded her warning and carefully carried Andrea 
to the sink where she was cleaned up. Once she was 
clean Bernie went to the fridge and took out a large 
bowl of bread crumb and peach stuffing and began to 
spooning it into Andrea's empty abdomen . Once she had 
packed all she could into Andrea she poured a bottle of 
Chardonnay into the stuffing and sewed Andrea's stomach 
shut sealing in the rich flavorful stuffing. 

"Are you still with us," Bernie asked

"Yes." Andrea replied "but I have a headache."

"I wouldn't worry about that Andrea, it's probably 
normal." Bernie surmised "we are nearly done with you 
now. All that is left is to tie you baste you and put 
you on." 

"Ok," Andrea said....suddenly Andrea began to cry "what 
am I doing Bernie, why am I here?"

"Don't cry Andrea," Bernie said as she stroked her 
forehead a couple of times. "You've been doing really 
well up until this point. Please don't make a scene 
now....it's to late." Bernie then wiped a tear from 
Andrea's cheek. "If you would like me to I can lower 
the temperature in the oven, you might last longer that 
way."

"I think that would be good Bernie," Andrea replied. 
"Thank you."

"No problem Andrea." Bernie said as she lowered oven 
temperature to 275 degrees. "No problem at all." 

Andrea looked across the kitchen and saw Jody 
approaching with a saucepan, two brushes and some cord. 
Bernie took Andrea's legs, tied them at the ankles and 
bound Andrea's wrists. Bernie then pulled Andrea's 
knees up toward her chest and tied Andrea's wrist cords 
tightly to the ropes that secured her ankles. Andrea 
was finished and looked something like a large 
thanksgiving turkey. Charles then lifted Andrea's body 
onto the deep cooking tray, where Jody basted her with 
a generous layer of sauce, the rest of the sauce was 
poured into the tray along with four bottles of wine 
and a bottle of peach liqueur. Finally Bernie came over 
to Andrea's head, gathered her hair into a bun and used 
a few metal hair pins to secure it at the back of her 
head.

"That's pretty much it." Jody said as she looked at 
Bernie.

"Are you ready Andrea?" Bernie inquired.

"Yes I am." Andrea replied. "But I want to see everyone 
before you put me in."

"Jody go get the guests please." Bernie said "make this 
quick Andrea."

Within a few minutes everyone gathered around Andrea's 
body. All present were surprisingly calm though no one 
talked directly to Andrea. Bernie told them that Andrea 
had something to say.

"I want to thank you all for allowing me to do this." 
Andrea started. "I'm terrified of dying, I really am, 
but at the same time I know that this is something 
useful. I want you all not to feel sorry for me. I want 
you to enjoy my body, it's just a vehicle for my soul, 
and my soul doesn't want to be here....it wants to be 
with Cory." Andrea paused for a moment before looking 
at Bernie and saying. "I'm ready Bernie."

"OK Andrea" Bernie said as she was cutting a medium 
sized peach in half "I need you to open your mouth 
wide." Andrea opened her mouth allowing Bernie to stuff 
a large peach into her mouth. Bernie then put both 
halves of the peach she had been cutting into Andrea's 
vagina. "That's so you don't dry out to much, I hope 
you don't mind." Bernie said to Andrea who shook her 
head from side to side. 

"Charles," Bernie asked "could you give me a hand 
putting her in the oven?"

"Yeah, sure." Charles said as he came over to help. 
Andrea felt the tray she was on being lifted up to the 
oven. The door opened, a rush of heat hit her, she was 
scared. Bernie turned the tray sideways in the oven 
pushed it into the oven then casually closed the oven 
door without saying word to her. Andrea closed her eyes 
for a moment when the oven light came on. She looked up 
and saw the broiling elements and looked to the side at 
the jet black walls of Bernie's oven, "this is really 
happening" she thought to herself ' I'm really being 
cooked."

Andrea was amazed at how quiet it was inside the oven, 
the elements made a faint humming noise and 
occasionally she could hear a murmur from the people 
talking in the kitchen. Although she couldn't actually 
hear what was being said outside, she could see the 
guests looking in so she assumed that they were talking 
about her. It was hot, so very hot in this place she 
thought to herself. Sleepy; she felt sleepy and was 
having a hard time breathing, she closed her eyes and 
drifted off into a trance. A few seconds later she 
heard a pounding on the oven door she turned her head 
and saw that it was a few of the children, seeing if 
she was still awake....She was, though just barely. 
Andrea opened her eyes and turned her head slightly to 
the side to see the children better, they all looked 
like Cory. Andrea's hallucination put her into a panic, 
she tried to scream. "Let me out, he's alive. I can see 
him, you can't do this to me!" she tried to struggle 
free of the cords but it was to no avail. Finally the 
lonely young woman Andrea, drew her last breath and 
yielded to the uncompromising heat of the oven.

Outside Bernie watched as Andrea went into a weak 
convulsion. Bernie called the guests to the room. 
Together they watched as Andrea's eyes opened for one 
last time and her chest stopped moving. Andrea had 
lasted fifteen minutes, that was about how long Bernie 
thought she would last. Bernie opened the oven and 
basted Andrea's body before raising the oven's 
temperature and returning the roast to it's hot chamber 
to finish cooking. 

Three hours later, Adriana and Todd had arrived. Three 
tables were set in the basement rec-room and the guests 
had taken their places. All eyes were on Andrea's 
golden brown roasted body as it was carried into the 
room; it was still steaming as it was placed on the 
center table. Bernie slowly, deliberately sliced open 
the roast and spooned the stuffing into a large bowl. 
Next Bernie removed Andrea's heart and placed it on a 
silver serving plate and drizzled it with some of the 
gravy that was made from the juice that was collected 
from the bottom of the tray. Finally Bernie began to 
carve slices of meat from Andrea's roasted body, she 
carved enough to accommodate everyone's first helping. 

Everyone ate, slowly at first, Andrea tasted wonderful, 
her meat was tender and juicy. The rich mix of peach, 
herbs and spices from the stuffing combined with her 
meat went extraordinarily well with the other dishes 
being served. As the meal went on and people got more 
relaxed with the situation the atmosphere got 
considerably more sociable and less somber. The guests 
began to converse and the evening went ahead, the rain 
fall outside and the fire roaring in the fireplace set 
a comfortable, relaxed tone that remained through out 
the evening. 

The next day everyone awoke to a beautiful, blue sky. 
Bernie had already cleaned up from the previous 
evenings gathering. The guests all asked for something 
of Andrea to take home with them....to remember the 
meal by. Bernie didn't have much meat left, so instead 
she went into Andrea's room and cut the brightly 
colored blouse Andrea had been wearing on the day she 
came into small patches and distributed them to the 
guests. Everyone thanked her, and she thanked everyone 
for coming. 

The last guests to leave were Charles and his family.

"Is there going to be another party next year?" Charles 
asked.

"Yeah Charlie." Bernie replied "Kirk is gone, but I 
think he would want me to carry on, maybe Todd and 
Adriana can take more active roles next year."

"Then I'll see you next year Bernie." Charles said 
before getting into his Range Rover and driving off.

"Yeah Charlie.' Bernie said to herself, "next year."