Fuego Burger

Charlie is sitting at the dinner table with his aunt Esther, his cousin Michael and his sister Ella. Sitting in front of him at the table is a big juicy, greasy burger with red sauce leaking from its center. The sauce is his aunt Carol’s famous Fuego Sauce which is said to be so hot that no one can withstand its spice for longer than one minute after tasting the sauce. Charlie who loves a good challenge has been challenged by his family members to take a bite from the sandwich to see how long he can withstand the spice of the sauce before needing a drink.

“Ight nephew”, Esther began. “On your mark, get set, GO!!!”. Charlie quickly picked up the burger and took a bite so big that nearly half the burger was gone afterwards. Charlie started chewing to get a good taste of the sandwich. In the first few seconds the sandwich seemed harmless to Charlie. “This doesn’t seem too bad” Charlie said while chewing. I don’t see what all the hype is a-”. Before Charlie could finish he felt a sharp sting on his tongue.

The sensation on his tongue was so striking that he completely stopped chewing and forgot that he was even eating a burger. “Ok that’s a little hot”, Charlie choked. As the sensation engulfed him his family members began to erupt in laughter. “Come on brotha” Ella laughed. “You just gotta hang on for 45 more seconds and you will have proved that you can hang with the big boys.” “On the other hand your head might explode from that Texas Pete on steroids if you don’t make a run for the sink” Michael added.

In addition to his tongue being in massive pain, Charlie was now unable to sit still. His forehead was starting to sweat as the laughter around him was growing. The sensation in his mouth was so intense that it became amusing to even Charlie himself. Charlie joined his family members in laughter as he just barely started to collect his thoughts. “Hold it together, Chuck” he thought. Just a short 30 more seconds and I got it in the bag.” As the seconds passed the heat started to become even more intense. In the midst of the searing pain in his mouth Charlie briefly started begging the question in his mind as to how it was even possible that his mouth was getting hotter.

“Good Lord, HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?” He asked out loud. “MY MOUTH IS LITERALLY GETTING HOTTER.” “Just 25 more seconds cuzzo and you’ll be a legend.” Michael said in an encouraging tone. Charlie desperately tried to count the final 25 seconds out loud with hope that they would pass away sooner, but it did not alleviate his oral agony. “TWENTY FOUR…TWENTY THREE…TWENTY TWO…TWENTY ONE.” Charlie then started hopelessly fanning his mouth under the false pretense that it was going to make a difference. When the electrifying sensation in his mouth reached what felt like the peak of how intense it could get, Charlie finally caved.

“GET OUT THE WAY!!! GET OUT THE WAY!!!” Charlie screamed while running through Michael and Ella charging for the refrigerator. Charlie opened the door and grabbed two bottles of water and quickly opened them both. Without evening thinking he poured both of them in his mouth at the same time. Esther, Ella and Michael all watched Charlie in a thunderous laughter as the water flooded his mouth while also spilling all over his shirt and the kitchen floor. Still, the water was not enough, Charlie’s mouth was still burning hot.

Charlie then picked up a big jug of water in the bottom of the fridge. Anticipating his actions, Esther, Michael and Ella reached into the kitchen pantry and grabbed and bunch of paper towels and two wash cloths and laid them on the kitchen floor around Charlie’s feet. Charlie then opened up the big jug of water and started flooding his mouth with until the jug was empty.

As Charlie’s shirt and the towel covered kitchen floor was drenched in water, the quartet all laughed together at Charlie’s ordeal. “Well I didn’t beat the time, but I sure was close to it.” Charlie concluded.