He sat in the driver's seat, dazed. My God, he thought, can I do this? He looked down at his waist, a waist that was just now approaching what he deemed presentable. Could he allow any chance of becoming that butterball again? No way, he decided, no way in Hell.

He pressed the garage door remote and turned the ignition key simultaneously. The clanking of the closing door drowned out the starter. He stepped inside the house, and listened. He could not hear the engine at all.

He ...