October 4th

Keith never cared about his appearance. Rarely showered, smelled all the time, and could barely fit at his desk because of how big he let himself get. His co-workers would make fun of him for it, but he didn't care. One day at work, a client came in inquiring about a loan he applied for. Keith had reviewed the application, but it didn't meet policy standards. Now Keith never really paid much attention when he got the job, and accepted the loan. The client was excited to finally start his own business. Later in the day, Keith's boss found out about the accepted loan, and was furious with Keith, and informed him that the loan didn't meet the standards. With a straight look on Keith's face, he was quickly fired. Unfazed by this action, he walked out from the front doors of the bank and headed home.

Keith walks through the door to his apartment, he stares at the walls, dirty clothes and garbage that covers the floor. He walks over and sits on his couch. Doesn't even take his shoes off, grabs the phone next to him, and orders for pizza to be delivered. When the pizza delivery man comes by, knocks on the door.

"Come in! It's open" Keith shouts, knowing that the walls are very thin, but he doesn't care. Delivery man walks through the threshold, immediately covers his nose from the disgust of the place. "That'll be $20 sir" said the delivery man, trying to hold his breath from the stench of the old pizza box sitting on the counter. Keith gives the guy the money, not even taking his eyes off the television screen. "Enjoy your day sir" says the delivery man as he rushes out in disgust. Not even saying thank you, Keith takes the biggest bite of a slice, nearly taking half of the pizza in his mouth. As the days go by, Keith stays where he is, not moving. Not even to use the bathroom. A month goes by, his phone starts to ring, it's his land lord. "Keith, you have not made your rent last month, what's going on?" "Oh, I lost my job. Thought I told you" in a straight tone while looking at the tv. "I'm sorry to hear about the job, but I'm giving you until the end of this month to catch up on rent." Land lord not happy with Keith about losing his job."Yeah sure" Keith responds in a straight tone. “I’m serious Keith, by the end of this month,” said his landlord. Not even caring or listening to what he said, Keith hangs up the phone.

A week goes by, and no one has heard from Keith. Not his landlord, not his old boss, or even any family or friends. His phone rings, it’s his landlord. “Hey Keith, its Bob. Haven’t heard from you in a bit, just checking in and wanted to remind you to get caught up on your rent.” The line hangs up. Flies are starting to buzz around the empty pizza box, house centipedes crawling in and out of cracks of the walls. Ants crawling over old moldy food. A month goes by now, and still, no one knows what happened or reached out to Keith. His phone rings, it’s Bob his landlord. “Hey Keith, it’s Bob. Look its the end of the month and I’m gonna need to collect the rent. If you can’t meet the rent soon, I’ll have to evict you, and I don’t want to do that. I’ll see you soon.” A few hours go by, and there’s a knock on the door. “Keith! It’s Bob. I need my rent money, and now I’m getting fed up. The police are here with me if you won't cooperate." Not a single word from Keith, not even a movement. The entire apartment is silent. Bob uses the spare key to open the door. The stink fills his nostrils, even the police officers can smell it. They walk in, and of course the first thing they see is all the garbage and moldy food. One officer is trying to cover his nose, while the other officer is trying not to throw up. They make their way into the living room, and the one officer throws up. Shocked in disbelief, jaws dropped to the floor. Bob, coughing and gagging, disgusted at the sight of this ginormous human size potato on the couch. Except this potato seems to have skin, human skin. That's when they notice, this thing has a hand, and feet with shoes on that matches the ones Keith was wearing. This couch potato, is Keith.