James walked through the department store, doing his best to keep his eyes on the floor. If that woman in the coffee shop hadn't spilled her coffee on his lap he wouldn't be there. He always avoided stores. But he didn't have time to go home and change. He had to pick up new pants here and now.
Looking out of the corner of his eye James kept track of where he was in the store. Home decor, electronics, baby care. As soon as he saw a hint of baby care James looked to the other side of the aisle. He kept walking until he found the men's clothing section. He hated that the pants were usually so close the underwear but he did his best to stay by the racks of clothes. Once in the relative safety of the racks James let his eyes raise a bit higher. He searched quickly through the pants trying to find a pair in his size. While searching he cursed his fate.
Ten years ago, as a teenager he had a chance unlike any other. A genie. He had found a ring in the woods and out of it came a genie offering him just one wish and only three rules; No love, No life or death, and no more wishes. Thinking himself cleaver as a fifteen-year-old James wished that he could take on the attributes of any guy he saw a picture of. His wish was granted. As soon as the genie granted James' wish he and the ring vanished.
James rushed home to test out his new gift. He ran from the edge of the forest to his house and up to his room. Making sure the door was shut and that his parents were well occupied he sat at his computer and opened google. He typed "ripped boy" into the search and switched to image search. The first image he saw was a guy a little older than him with a solid six pack and bulging pecs. In a moment James felt the muscles under his shirt moving, growing and hardening. He lifted the front of his shirt to check out his new abs. There they were. He rand his hand over them.
With excitement James scrolled to another picture, a supper toned guy in his underwear. Instantly all of James’ clothes disappeared except his boxers. “What the…?” James said. A moment later he heard his mother calling up the stairs. “Jimmy, why are you pants in the kitchen?”
That was the night James realized he had messed up his life. Any time he saw an image of a guy he instantly took on one or more of the attributes of the person. It may be their clothes (or lack thereof), their age, weight, race, just eye color, or any combination of different traits. Sometimes only his shirt disappeared even if the guy in the picture was completely naked. The only way to change back was to see a picture of himself. Any picture of himself, regardless of age. And a lesson he had learned the hard way was that if his cloths changed or disappeared the contents of his pockets were scattered throughout the building. And he needed his wallet (with driver’s license) or his phone (loaded with plenty of selfies) to get back into his proper shape.
James finally found pants that were the right size. He wanted to checkout and change in his car but first he had to get to the check out. He looked up to orient himself in the store only to see a giant picture mounted on a wall. It was a man only in swim trunks running on the beach. James felt a breeze. He looked down to see…