It was a cool summer evening, I had just been to the beach with some friends and was driving back home. A light rain was falling and was beginning to get a little heavier. I don't know whether it was because of the dark or the weather, but what was normally a fifteen minute drive was taking already twice as long, I figured to myself that I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, and started to be on the lookout for a road sign that would point me in the right direction.
It was then I saw him, a hitch-hiker standing by the side of the country road. By the light of the car's headlights I could see that he was skinny, slightly tanned, and very bedraggled. It looked like he was travelling light, with only a medium-sized backpack upon his person. The plaid shirt and white shorts he was wearing might have been fine earlier in the day, but now that it was night time and raining, he was going to have trouble staying out in the elements any longer.
But instead of stopping, like I might have usually done, my hands gripped the steering wheel tighter and my teeth grinded against each other, my feet went down hard on the gas pedal and my mind began to buzz. I was overtaken by bloodlust. It felt like my life's purpose was to strike that man down right then and there. The surprised look of horror that appeared on his face only baited me on, and no amount of running could have saved him from me.
The hitch-hiker struck my hood with a dull thud, but was rapidly tossed off again as I continued to accelerate. As soon I saw that he was cast off onto the road I halted, and then proceeded to reverse at full speed. And so it was that I allowed my tires to run back and forth over his body, grinding his carcass as you might with an errant ant that ruins your picnic. Of course, I eventually stopped to check him for signs of life, and after I was satisfied that he was no longer living, I drove off, eventually finding my way home.
Did I feel fear or penance you ask? No. What I felt at that time was pure exhilaration, and it's a feeling that I have failed to replicate ever since. Even typing this now I can only call forth to me only a tiny fraction of what I felt that night. Maybe the thrill of this competition will fill a bit of the hunger that I have felt since that day, maybe not, all I know is that I'm signing up.