The Curse

“No, no Radek. You have to keep you back flat and stay on your toes.” Coke pressed firmly against my back. Coke realigned my back so that I was as flat as a board.

I pushed myself away from the ground. “Fuuuck, how do you even know how to do push ups!?”

“Doesn’t matter How I know, just do it right and you’ll be back in shape in no time.” She dug her hoof further into my back, pressing down to add more weight.

My arms were beginning to strain and sweat rolled down my forehead. “How many more of these god awful pushups do I need to do!?” I huffed as she climbed atop my back.

“Ten more and you can take a break. but then we're moving on to jumping jacks.” she said as her damp and chilled body slowly cooled my back.

“Since when did you and the rest of my stuff decide that I had to get in shape?” I wheezed out as I completed the second pushup.

Coke stepped off my back and walked around to face me “Since your sorry ass lost our bet. You’re my bitch for the week and you’re going to do every exercise I tell you”

Coke was almost nose-to-nose “Alright geez. I’ll do it.” I was now feeling a deep burn in my arms after the fourth push up.

“So what else are you planning for me?” I came up for the fifth time.

Coke settled onto her haunches “A lot. We’re going to learn about healthy cooking, we’re going to clean out the fridge of junky stuff, we’re going to start a workout regiment, and you’re going to learn to manage your time more wisely. No more long nights of Rocket League.”

“Hey, don’t talk shit about Rocket League! Game is great. Should be counted as cardio with how almost every match gets my heart going.” I finished the seventh rep.

“Riiight, cardio. We’ll work that in somewhere, and maybe we’ll add Cheeto dead lifts and button mashing exercises as well.” Coke giggled into her hoof.

“This week is going to suck, isn’t it?” I finished the ninth rep.

“Only if you keep acting like a baby for the entire time. Better learn to embrace it.” Coke said matter of factly.

I rolled to my back as I came down from the final push up. “God, push ups suck. My arms are tired, I’m sweaty, and I’m thirsty.”

“You're also a little bitchy too, but I can fix one of those problems.” Coke stepped close to me and pressed her lips against mine.

Cold liquid flowed from Coke’s body and quickly filled my mouth with a the sharp sting of carbonation and almost saccharine sweet taste of coke. Coke pulled away. “Better?”

I sucked in a fresh breath of air. “Yeah, much better, but I could go for another shot and maybe a glass of water too.”

Coke began to trot to the kitchen “Water yes, coke, no. You need yo stay hydrated with water. It's better for you when you work out.”

I rolled to my stomach and eased myself up to a standing position. “So what kind of food are we going to cook? You said healthy food, but if it's nasty, I’m gonna nope the fuck right out of this bet shit.”

Coke came back with a glass of water balanced on her back and offered it to me. “Ask Stove. She’ll be teaching you.

I took a long sip from the glass “Right, figured.” I stepped towards the kitchen to see stove resting on the ground in her usual spot with several books and magazines laid out in front of her. “Hey Stove, what’s on the menu for cooking lessons?”

Stove turned her head to face me “Well, I’ve read up on a lot of the latest recipes for healthy foods. I think you’ll be happy with what we have planned. First lesson will be either be a pesto cheese pizza, or we could try the turkey chili.” Stove turned back to her books.

“Those don't sound too bad. Pizza doesn't sound hard to do. It's just crust, sauce and cheese right?” I asked while rubbing my forearms.

That’s the spirit Radek! Pizza it is then. Now, you and Coke need to get back to your exercises.” Stove smiled and waved me off.

“Maybe this won’t be so bad.” I looked back into the other room to see Coke setting large mats on the ground. “Or maybe she’s going to kill me with exercise.”