Thin, Thinner, Thinnest

This is the short story I wrote for BBC Radio 2's 500 Words Competition.  It didn't win, but I hope you like it anyway...

Like every other evening at home with his family, Tubs (twelve-years old but quite thin) was eating dinner. But recently something strange had been going on, and that peculiar thing was the more he ate, the thinner he got. He had first realised this when he looked in the mirror an hour ago and ever since, he looked odder and odder. “How strange” he kept on saying. When he had finished dinner that night, he was as thin as a pencil (“as thin as a pencil!” he said aloud at the table to everyone’s surprise).  

Tubs, now looking like some sort of stick (which did not stop him from eating his favourite foods like pizza, French fries, and especially HOT DOGS) was walking through town, when he saw a poster advertising a hot dog eating contest in the Town Hall.  He was immediately interested because he loved them more than sausages, chips and definitely vegetables. So he said to himself, “I’m going to enter” and scared the old lady standing beside him who had not seen him, because he was so thin. What he did not remember was that he would get even thinner if he ate lots more food. He was dreaming of winning the shining gold trophy. He would get as thin as a piece of string, but at that point he did not think of any of this. 

He got to the Town Hall at noon the next day. The other contestants, most of them much larger than him, were eating tons of hot dogs and all muttering (of course with their mouths full) they would win. Some of the contestants laughed and pointed when they saw Tubs, thinking what a joke it was to see such a skinny boy enter the competition. One said that he was the best, another announced he’d get the trophy, one more shouted he would beat them all. But Tubs reminded himself, “I’m going to win”, and dived into a large tub of hot dogs. They were meaty, some spicy, all absolutely scrumptious. He enjoyed himself as much at Sunday dinners. But then something unexpected happened. When he’d finished he had completely gone. He looked down at himself and realised that he had disappeared. First he thought it was just the hand holding the last of his hot dogs. Then he realised it had spreader farther. Even his head had vanished. 

The judge, a jolly man in a woolly, orange hat, started to say, “The winner is…,” and then looking around puzzled, “hey, where’s the boy who ate all the hot dogs??” Tubs was at first quite thrilled that he could not be seen.  Then he thought sadly, “If I’m gone…how will I get my prize?” But then he perked up again, “Maybe I’ll win ‘Worlds Slimmest Creature’, but I better take a magnifying glass so the judges can see me”.