As I sat in front of my television, I was content. But beyond my world of TV tube bliss, my stomach was churning. As a particularly large bubble of gas surfaced in my stomach, I knew I had to eat.

Quickly I raced to my car. I turned my key in the ignition. My car gave no response. At that moment my heart died. I realized I had to fend for myself.

My dingy refrigerator stood in the corner, tarnished and unused. I pulled back the rusting door on this forgotten idol of nourishment, and saw what I had to work with. A half of an onion wrapped in plastic, some left over meatloaf from last week. In the door was a bottle of ketchup, and a small cube of cheddar cheese. Off to the side, a strawberry jello mold jiggled silently.

I devoured the meatloaf and jello so fast I barely tasted them. The cheese went next. I ignored the fact that it had dried up. Needing more, I chugged the bottle of ketchup. I looked long and hard at the onion before I got up the nerve to eat it too. I held my nose and chomped on it as fast as I could.

With the refrigerator empty and my eyes watering, I sat down for a moment to think. I was completely out of food, but my stomach still growled in anticipation of the next bite. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I ran to the trash bag and looked inside.

Some orange peels, egg shells, pizza crusts and coffee grounds. All were gone in a matter of seconds. The egg shells were crunchy, and the coffee grounds stuck in the back of my mouth. Over all, it was a very small amount of food.

For the next twenty minutes I tried to catch bugs, but after only catching a couple of spiders I gave that up. Then I remembered the shotgun in my garage. I got it out and stalked my back yard for a while. In half an hour I had three big crows. I took them inside and fried them up hurriedly. Their meat was stringy, and their bones crunched in my mouth.

The birds kept me satisfied for a while, but then my hunger returned, gurgling in my stomach. I thought long and hard, but I was out of ideas. The hunger gnawed at my guts like a wild beast. I had given up hope. It began to look like the end was near when the doorbell rang.

"Yo, Matt! It's me Dave! I brought pizza!"

I was saved! I let Dave in and told him my harrowing tale, at which point he quickly led me to the pizza. While he was calling poison control for me, I ravenously wolfed down all three of the cheesy pies. I was in heaven.

The pizzas gone, it began to look like I had finally won. My hunger was gone at last. But just as I thought it was over, a low gurgle emanated from my stomach. In moments it became a loud grumbling. I looked over at Dave hungrily.

The author invites your crits and comments. Address them to:
mattfree@oocities.com
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