Silent Lucidity

XLVIII

[The Purge]

STILLWATER, MINNESOTA

A crowd counted down. "15, 14, 13, 12..."

HOT DOG CONTEST

Two contestants, one large man and one thin man, on stage were still chowing through their hotdogs.

"11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."

The referee yelled to the larger contestant, "No chipmunking allowed! Swallow or you're disqualified!"

"...2, 1..."

A buzzer sounded and a whistle blew. The crowd cheered and the referee counted the hotdogs still left and then announced the winner by holding up the large man's hand.

"Looks like we got a winner!" the referee said.

"Yeah!" the large man cried.

"He cheated!" the thin man protested.

"Hey, back off, Skeletor. I won fair and square."

"Like hell you did, Jabba! I saw you slip a hot dog in your pocket!"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, pal, but that's no hot dog."

"Ohh!" the crowd exclaimed.

The large man laughed and then was handed his trophy and winner's check for $1,000.00. The thin man stormed off the stage.

Later, the large man got into his car with his trophy. He laughed in glee and pulled the extra hotdog out of his pants. He took a large bite, still laughing in triumph. He heard a sound and looked around. Seeing nothing, he went back to eating. A dark figure sat up behind him on the back seat and the large man was jerked back and started to choke. His face started to shrink and then his chest and belly. All of his extra pounds looked to be sucked away and he died in the seat. His bumper had a sticker on it which said "Bacon makes everything better."

BUNKER KITCHEN

Dean was sitting at his laptop with his head in his right hand staring at the screen. Sam and Kennedy entered.

"Hey," Sam and Kennedy greeted.

Dean barely looked up and raspily answered, "Hey."

Sam, without much concern, asked, "You go to bed last night?"

Dean cleared his throat. "What? Uh, no. No, "Rudy" was on. "Unforgiven," and then I was too jacked to sleep, so... research."

Sam and Kennedy were still rummaging around the kitchen getting breakfast. "Gadreel?"

"And Metatron and the Mark of Cain and..." He looked up and realized Sam and Kennedy weren't really paying attention. "...Crickets. I did find us a case, though."

"Oh, yeah?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, was a strange death in Stillwater, Minnesota. A competitive eater died after a hot dog-eating contest."

"So, what? Death by tube steak?"

"If only. He got attacked in his car, but, uh, get this -- he shrunk from 300 pounds to 90 pounds."

"Witchcraft?" Kennedy guessed.

"Or a heavy-duty laxative. You two game?"

"Yeah," Sam and Kennedy replied.

"Good. Looks like it's a whore's bath for me. I'll be ready in five." He got up to leave.

Sam stopped him in the doorway. "You sure you're okay, Dean?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"'Cause -- I don't know you... This isn't about what I said the other day, is it?"