Matt

Chapter 9- The Realization

I had to admit that I slept better last night than I did the night before. I mean, sure sleep hasn't been the most abundant resource I could find since moving in here, but I'll take what rest I could find.

As with more than ninety percent of my mornings, I could not enjoy the sensation of slowly getting out of bed. Sometime during the morning, I was disturbed by some kind of burning sensation inside my mouth. The feeling became more and more painful until I could no longer stay within the confines of the subconscious. I bolted from my sleep and immediately felt that something was in my mouth. In both fear and panic, I spat whatever was in my mouth out. I was dismayed to find that the excruciating pain in my mouth was still there, and on the floor was now a strange orange-colored...thing.

It was then that I noticed Serena standing near the door, laughing her ass off. What the hell did you do to me?! What in gods holy name did you do this time! She then held up what appeared to be an orange colored pepper than had been cut in half. "Habanero."

It was another scheme by Serena to find an easy way to wake me up. After finally realizing what was going on, I bolted past her and went straight into the bathroom. I put my mouth in the sink and began to drink as much water as possible. Unfortunately, as soon as I swallowed some water, the fiery pain would surge back even worse than before.

Serena followed me into the bathroom looking somewhat annoyed. "Will you cut it out, Matt? You're being a baby!"

"You put it in your mouth, then!" I yelled in between gulps of water.

Figuring that I was challenging her, Serena looked at the pepper that she held onto for a few seconds before doing just that. She bit hard into it and chewed it furiously before finally swallowing it. "See? ...It's not so bad..."

Immediately after she said that, I watched as her face became increasingly redder and her eyes started to water. It wasn't long before she was obviously in tremendous pain herself. It was now my turn to crack up. I laughed at her while letting the water run through my mouth.

"Shut up..." said Serena as a large amount of drool flowed out of her mouth. She then pushed me aside so she too could relieve her pain with some water. Despite the pain, I couldn't help but keep laughing. Poetic justice at its finest.

Eventually it became obvious that water was not going to be enough to relieve our obvious pain. I recalled that milk and bread were decent remedies for relieving the pain caused by peppers. We both rushed down the stairs and went straight to the kitchen. I grabbed the milk first while Serena grabbed the bread. I quickly grabbed a large glass and poured it to the top before chugging it down. I was quickly dismayed when I found that this only relieved the pain slightly, so I had to pour another glass.

Meanwhile, Serena was quickly stuffing pieces of bread down her mouth to the point where her cheeks were bulging. I laughed again, causing some milk to come up into my nose. It was all I could do to not spit the milk out.

"Shu up, Malph! It's no funy!" Serena said with her mouth still stuffed with bread.

I definitely disagree. Seeing her like this was one of the highlights of my life. What I would give to have a camera right now!

However, Serena turned away from me and grunted, obviously upset that I was laughing at her. I went and grabbed a few slices of bread myself. "Look, I'll do it too if it'll make you feel better."

"It won't cause it's no funy!" said Serena, her mouth still packed.

I started stuffing my mouth with bread to the point where my mouth was also bulging. "Dere, how dat?"

Serena fought hard to not crack up, but she eventually lost the battle and started laugh a bit. She had to put a hand on her mouth to prevent the bread from spilling out. Eventually she swallowed the bread and went to grab a few more slices. "Okay, it's a little funny."