Neil watches TV. He flips through the channels, bored, killing time. In the distance his wife putters about the house. He drinks a beer.

He stops when he catches a glimpse of a hot dog eating contest on ESPN 33. He loves to eat. He loves a challenge. This is his calling.

He is drawn to the spectacle, to the stories of triumph and defeat, to lots and lots of food and eating with his hands, eating with no homage to polite convention, eating with no napkin. The blue light of the television dances across his face. He is rapt.

The image on the TV cuts to the newest extreme eating star…a slight waif-like woman who wins all the contests, hot dogs, hamburgers, pies, pickles, sushi. The crowd cheers.

Neil is drawn to her, mesmerized by this woman who shares is passion, captivated by one so slight and so powerful, this is true love. This woman, he knows, is his destiny.

He glances around, checks the hallway, he is alone.

He stares at the TV absorbing everything about the contest, the food, this woman…little woman who loves to eat.

Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas wins the contest as she always does. Since she hit the circuit she’s trounced men two, three times her size. The announcer tells of her next event, a jalapeño eating contest in Texas a month from that day.

Neil resolves to go. Whatever it takes he will meet her and win that contest. He will prove himself to her and they will live blissfully forever.