4 Senses by Rhys Guilfoyle
The students were tasked to write a story about the loss of one of their five senses.
RHYS turned his loss of TASTE into a championship-winning advantage at Carolina’s annual Hot Pepper Eating Challenge.
4 Senses
Chicken noodle soup… The pulled chicken and vegetables soaked in broth… I would hate to miss the taste of it. I put my lips to the hot bowl and slurp up some of the broth.
“Owwwwwwwww!” I scream. My tongue is on fire. I wait a few minutes for the soup to cool. Huh, I don’t taste anything? I must’ve screwed up the recipe.
“Dinner!” my mom yells.
I run downstairs and see glorious pasta bolognese. The creamy tomato sauce paired with ground italian sausage. I take the first bite and don’t taste anything.
“Ma, this doesn’t taste like anything.”
“I made it how I always make it.” my mom replied.
“I couldn’t taste my soup and now this. What’s going on?” I said.
My mom grabbed a piece of garlic bread. The end piece, the best piece. I took a bite..
Nothing.
“I don’t taste it.” I said.
“Seems like you lost your sense of taste, we gotta see a doctor.” my mom said.
We ran through a couple tests and the doctor broke the bad news.
“Son, you lost your sense of taste.” the doctor said.
“This can’t be true. I can’t eat burgers, pasta, or broccoli anymore!” I yelled in agony.
“Listen, a big part of taste is your smell, and you still have that. You just can’t taste anything sweet, sour, or salty.” the doctor answered.
All the foods I once loved are gross. Yogurt is like slime in your mouth and eggs are squishy and gross. Pizza for breakfast and breakfast for dinner don’t hit the same anymore. The one thing I can still eat is spicy foods. I pair spice with everything. I eat it with cereal and even ice cream.
Since I eat peppers with everything, I developed a strong spice tolerance. I eat South Carolina Reapers like they’re candy. I decided to go to a pepper eating competition. I made it to the finals versus Greg Foster. He holds the world record for eating 10 Carolina reapers in 10 seconds and he is the world champion of the Hot Pepper Eating Championship. We tied between eating 20 Carolina reapers in under a minute. Sudden deathmatch began and they brought out the Apollo Pepper. Developed in a lab, 3 million Scoville heat units. We both ate one to see who broke first. We waited and waited until it hit like a nuclear bomb. Whoever could last longer without drinking water, wins. Ten minutes went by and we were both panting. Greg Foster grabbed his water bottle and I won the championship.
Rhys Guilfoyle
9/22/23