I dare you to eat this!

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We were eating in this fancy restaurant and my sister challenged me into something that I promised myself, I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN.

We have just finished dessert and were waiting for the bill. My sister pondered around the almost empty plates with a metal fork. She speared a little red chili pepper and twirled it around. I watched her with an indifferent face, having nothing else to say.
She instinctively waved the fork to my face and told me, “I dare you to eat this.”

With my right brow raised, I grabbed the fork from her and looked at it closely.
“Go on, take a bite.” she repeated. I smiled at her remark. I’ve always loved challenges and a good dare excites me all the time. I thought about Reese Witherspoon’s movie ‘Vanity Fair’ and how she ate the same red chili pepper in one part of the movie. Of course I knew that they didn’t make the actress eat a REAL red chili but I wondered myself, what would it taste like?

It’s as if my mom heard my thoughts and she told me not to eat it.
“It’s a burning sensation.” she told us but my sister and I ignored her remark.
It was stupid and reckless for my part and perfectly funny for my sister, because you would think that I’m a fool to take up a dare like that even without a price.
“Are you nuts? You’re going to eat that? Do you want your tongue burned?!” My inner self hissed at me.
“This is once in a lifetime. Take a chance. Go on. Taste it.” my instincts told me and I didn’t need another minute. So I took an innocent bite then I stayed apathetic for a few seconds but after that, I was spitting and choking with a face that I dare not to describe.

Then for the next twenty minutes or so, I was literally whining and cursing the red chili pepper and my sister who was laughing at me. I did everything; I ate spoonfuls of ice cream which helped a lot but only for a few seconds.
The burning sensation was really tormenting. I looked at my tongue closely at the mirror and saw that it was actually damaged.
I saw something that looked like a burned layer of the tongue or something and it really hurt a lot. I put ice cubes in my mouth and it was a big relief from time to time, but the pain just kept on coming back.

It was a silly yet horrible experience.

Now that I know how red chili peppers taste like, I wouldn’t let another one of those little red veggies near my tongue again. Never.
And also, I’ve learned to listen to my mother and gain some common sense.
Though I knew it all along that it has a burning sensation, I didn’t listen to my sensible self.
Sometimes it’s really absurd to follow your instincts. I learned that the hard way. 