Ozempic For Breakfast | Dogfood for Dinner | Chapter 2
Cracks
CLUNK.
My heart lurched as the sound shattered my trance.
Fear surged like a tidal wave, flooding senses long dulled by routine. I jolted upright, breath shallow and erratic. My eyes darted across the room, scanning for the source, until they froze.
Spiderweb cracks snaked across the kitchen window, delicate lines splitting and spreading as if alive. The pink haze pressed against the fractures, its soft glow now menacing.
It wanted in.
Somewhere deep in the spellbound corners of my mind, a memory stirred.
Something about the haze.
Something we were told to forget.
Chapter 2
I looked down at my phone.
The premier was starting.
Ms. Feast, in all of her majesty of influence and charisma, was beaching the shores of Normandy. Bullets whizzing overhead and distant booms rocking the landscape, I knew this was going to go viral and would easily break her last record “The Battle of the Somme Challenge”. This was a can’t miss.
Her perfectly tight face, shining eyes, smooth skin, and blinding teeth were mesmerizing → she clearly spent top dollar to keep her body in PrimeShape TM.
That reminds me…I should upgrade to PrimeShapeTM+, yesterday I noticed a new wrinkle was starting to appear…
“In today’s challenge, YOU get to EXPERIENCE Normandy, the moment that FOREVER changed the history of the world. 100,000 BRAVE contestants will storm the shores, but only 10,000 will advance, to LIVE ANOTHER DAY! Are you ready to witness BRAVERY BEYOND BELIEF? Are you ready to EXPERIENCE the HARD-FOUGHT GLORY through SACRIFICE that brought us the FREEDOM we all CHERISH so DEARLY…In 60 SECONDS their boats will hit these DEADLY shores and our contestants will CHARGE into certain DEATH, but who will SURVIVE, who will CONQUER their FATE?!?! 60...59..58..57…56…55…”
A sharp sense of fear and foreboding creeped into my consciousness.
Initially it was the preparation for what I was about to YouExperience+++ but as the prickling needles spread, I was reminded of something…something that just happened. Something that I just experienced.
Annoyed, I looked up. The webbed of cracks of the kitchen window started to grow and tangle, the pink haze hungrily pressing against the barrier of protection. The fumes were starting to leak in, their alien entry paralyzing my attention.
I was in a state of disbelief, of shock.
What just happened?
Why is my window cracked?
What could have possibly hit it to cause such damage?
Why did this have to happen right now?
Ms. Feast is premiering!
I can’t miss this.
I just upgraded to YouExperience+++.
…
I looked down again, eyes recalibrating to the comfort of my APhoneDeluxe1000 and the dopaminergic torrent of YouExperience+++ flooding my senses.
This challenge was unprecedented because we could toggle each contestant’s point of view and different biometric data, a special feature for the YouExperience+++ members that tuned in to the LIVE premier. Having this unparallel feature.
The bright rainbow widgets on the screen appeared satisfying and tactile. The upgraded experience was mine, in my hands! As the countdown continued, the pain of anticipation began its battle against the needling fear.
50...49...48...47…46…45…
The needling fire seared past the numbing cold, my body beginning to burn, forgotten sensations raging into reality. Perspiration emerged from its drought, dampening my smooth skin, the dormant deluge unleashed by this danger. My eyes remained locked on the screen, my refuge.
Salty droplets began burning.
Blinding pain blurring.
The haze summoned my attention, toward the dark silhouette fossilized in half-way through the window. One end engulfed in the cotton candy fumes, tainted by the unknown world’s air. The other end, a rude intruder in my domain, breaking and entering my experience, and Ms. Feast’s premier.
As my eyes began to focus, the fumes grew, further shrouding this stranger.
40...39..38...37…36…35…
My head dropped down with a renewed sense of urgency. My hands desperately seeking the new toggle feature to lock on to boat #7 and the contestant “Ronnie”. I can’t miss out on this historic moment. I had to lock-in to this experience. I quickly scrolled through Ronnie’s profile, ensuring he was going to be worth the watch.
This, after all, was going to be a groundbreaking moment. This was historical. This was surely going to be the greatest SHAREDEXPERIENCE + YOUEXPERIENCE moment of human history.
24 years old and in his statistically valid physical prime, Ronnie was standing tall and confident at the back of boat #7. Holding his battle worn M1 Garand with a grim smile, Ronnie’s eyes showed no trace of fear and only reflected back uncompromising confidence to conquer the challenge ahead.
His biometric data was undoubtedly impressive…he was a towering figure at 6 feet 5 inches and weighing 225 pounds. A specimen. As I continued to scan Ronnie’s stats and biography, my confidence that I made the right bet sent a wave of thrill through my nervous system, momentarily numbing the needles of fear.
If Ronnie can do it, I can.
I can…
I can…
I can….
30...29…28...27…26…25…
A can?
A can?
A can?
The stranger in the haze.
Wedged in the window.
Is that a can?
No it can’t be a can…
Confusion.
Chaos.
Compounding…
20...19…18...17…16…15…
I remained seated. My fingers pulsing in pain. As fear gripped, I gripped the phone harder. A vice was closing. I felt a crack below me.
Blood.
Blood?
Blood!
Ronnie’s grim smile, now a nightmarish red grin, his asymmetrical face shattered into unsettling incongruence.
Unknowingly and unconsciously, reality’s grip tightened and pain flowed from this clash of experiences.
My screen…my phone…my experience!!!
I was losing my grip and my grip loosened.
My bleeding fingers throbbing as they tapped violently to enter into “point of view” mode from “3rd person mode”.
NO!
NO!
NO!
The scream shrieked out of my soul…
No….no…no…
The mournful moan echoing from my bones…
It’s going to start…
And it’s not…
working…
10...9…8...7…6…5…
The pressure of the unknown was too much for the window.
CRASH
My eyes jolted upward, locking onto the stranger as it hurtled towards me.
Fate’s bullet tearing through time.
THUNK
The object smashed against the floor….
4…
SKIP
The wood planks creaked, the foreign missile incoming, propelled by the invading candy fumes.
3…
ROLL
The stranger’s velocity ceased, it's sinister speed slowing to a ominous pause.
2…
Ronnie is about to land…Where’s my phone…? Where am I?
The sweet smell reminded me of childhood. Bubblegum…or something like that…
The burning began to dull, eyes getting weary.
An ancient feeling of swam into my busy mind.
1…
But Ronnie…Ms. Feast…The Premierrrrrrr………
That is a can.
Dog food for dinner?
“GOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Gunfire erupted in the distance…
The war began.
The starting pistol fired, the pink smoke leaving the barrel of the unknown.
Fate’s fumes unavoidable, inescapable.
I blinked.
Blinked again.
Blinked?
Haven’t blinked in so…..
long…….
…
…
…
Am I Sleeping…?
Am…
I…
Dreaming…?
Thank you for diving into Ozempic for Breakfast | Dogfood for Dinner!
This is just the beginning of a strange, unsettling journey into a future where the lines between progress and decay blur with every passing day. If you enjoyed Part 2, don’t worry - there’s more to come. I’ll be releasing a new part each month, unraveling this world layer by layer.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, theories, or questions about the story - feel free to reach out, and let’s keep this conversation going.
See you next month as we step deeper into the pink haze. Until then, stay curious, stay aware, and stay hungry.
