Mary had wanted to get in shape. After two years of failing to go to the gym, she knew that she lacked some essential quality which fit people have. In her darkest hours, when she was eating candy bars - plural - from her secret stash above the refrigerator, she imagined that this failing was a lack of willpower. She was twenty pounds overweight, and carried it poorly, in part because she was of the understanding that this was her fault.
So the new year had come, and with another resolution. This time, after having read in one of her magazines that those who exercised with a partner were more likely to stick with it, Mary roped one of her friends into going to the gym with her. Elena was two years younger, and slightly less out of shape, but they both agreed that they had goals in common.
They went to the gym together three times a week, talked about their diets, pushed themselves to finish exercising, and so on. This lasted for about two weeks, until Mary got sick with a mild cold and begged off from exercise.
This coincided with a decision to take a small break for her diet. Mary was no expert on dietary needs, but she had read in a magazine once that cutting sweets out completely was a bad idea, as the body didn't like it and would start to retain fat as a defense mechanism. So Mary, feeling sick, had stopped by the gas station to pick up some cough drops, and saw a small package of bon-bons which, as luck would have it, was on sale. She bought them telling herself that she would reward herself with one after every workout. They were gone by the end of the night, whittled away in weak moments.
Some weeks after that, with Mary now finding excuses to beg off from their workouts nearly once per week, Elena came up with a new plan; they would make a bet between them. After three months, whoever had lost the most weight would win the pot of money. To Mary, this seemed the perfect motivation to buckle down and start in on some hard work. The sum was sizable enough that it would be a real impact if she lost.
Two and a half months later, it was clear to Mary that she hadn't done enough. When they went out to lunch, Elena ate better than her, and it was clear from the look of her, and from the frenzy of her workouts, that she was in much better shape. Mary, meanwhile, had privately weighed herself and found that she had lost roughly a pound - though whether that was true or not depended on how much water she'd had, what she'd eaten recently, whether she stood on her tiptoes, and the weather.
She went online, looking for a way to lose weight fast. It wasn't really about the money - she just wanted to put on a good showing, so that Elena wouldn't think less of her, and so when people asked her about the bet, she would at least be able to tell them that it was close. Eventually she found it; savilica dintari, an all natural herb from the middle east that burned through fat while you slept. She felt guilty after ordering it, but not guilty enough to cancel the order.
It came two days later in a nondescript brown box. There were no instructions, just a brick of leaves. Mary had to go online to find out what to do with it; eventually she settled on making it into a tea, which a number of commenters said would activate the chemicals in it. She let is steep for a few minutes, added some honey, and drank it down the dark liquid in just a few gulps.
She started feeling it an hour later. A cold sweat broke out across her skin, and soon her shirt was sticking to her back. Mary went to sit down for a bit, and began feeling light-headed. She woke up sometime later - it might have been an hour, it might have only been minutes - and noticed blood dripping from her nose. She had the energy to call 911, but dropped the phone and passed out again before hearing anything from the operator.
The next time she came to, she was in the hospital. Elena was there, and it was only with sluggish effort that Mary remembered that she was her emergency contact. Her words came out slowly:
"Did it work?"
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