It was Sunday, and Sam had slept in, something that she had grown accustomed to lately. She had set her alarm to go off at noon, slept through it without even noticing the noise, and finally opened her eyes at 3:30 pm. She seriously considered going back to sleep for a few hours, but she felt a nagging hunger pain that forced her to slowly pull herself out of bed and stumble down to the kitchen. As she made her journey, she noticed that no one was home. Her parents were probably out doing something.

Patting her growling stomach, Sam stepped into the kitchen and started searching for her favorite treats. What she found was too horrible for her to imagine: they were out of food! She checked and rechecked every pantry, shelf, and drawer, and couldn't find a single edible thing. Then again, there had been a box of baking soda in the fridge...was she really that hungry? Another loud stomach gurgle made it clear that yes, she was, and she dove for the fridge.

As she lifted the baking soda to her mouth, Sam spied two packages of tofu dogs. How had she missed those? She honestly thought she had eaten the last of the tofu dogs days ago. She happily grabbed and tore open one of the packages, and placed one of the dogs in her mouth, slowly chewing it as it slid down her throat.

Something was different about these dogs...they were delicious! So full of flavor. She would have to remind her mother to buy this brand again. Lately her parents had indulged her behavior completely, which Sam took as a sign that they were accepting her for who she was. Actually, her parents simply thought that pigging out and watching television was a "normal" thing to do, and that this might trigger a change in their skinny, gothic daughter.

Slipping another sausage into her mouth, Sam took a seat by the television. She grabbed the remote, leaned back, and turned it on. The screen lit up to show a rerun of some old reality TV show. Sam knew it was stupid and pointless, but she couldn't take her eyes off of it. She gazed upon the screen with all the attention that her blank stare allowed, rhythmically shoving the tofu dogs into her mouth.

When the commercial break came up a few minutes later, she was completely out of food. "I'm still so hungry...must be all the hard work I've been doing. Good thing I saved the other package." She took a moment to tear herself away from the TV, and shuffled over to the kitchen.

Taped to the fridge was a handwritten note that she hadn't noticed while tearing the kitchen apart earlier. She stared dumbfounded as she tried to make sense of what she was reading:

"Dear Sam,

Went grocery shopping. Don't touch the hot dogs in the fridge, they're for your dad and his friends tonight.

Love,

Mom."

Sam was completely shocked. She opened the fridge and looked at the package: they weren't tofu dogs, they were generic brand hot dogs. Her worst fears had come true: She had killed an animal for food. Her mind raced as she imagined all of the things in that hot dog. Cow. Pig. Intestines. Dog. Rat? Maybe even skunk? She wanted to throw up, but, as disgusted as she was, she couldn't help but remember how great they tasted. She could feel her willpower starting to waver...