Richard and Lucas were two teens who had gone to the large midtown shopping mall that afternoon in order to catch the afternoon matinee at the movie theater since the ticket prices were much cheaper. Once they left the theater, they just wandered around the deserted mall, since there wasn’t much to do and since it was almost time for the mall to close anyway. This was when the two boys spotted the strange, small souvenir shop, located near the entrance to the mall, and they decided to check it out.
Both boys were sixteen years old and they had known each other since grade school. They were in the same high school and they almost had all the same classes together. The only difference was that Lucas was tall and skinny where Richard was short and stocky. Also, Lucas was more athletic since he played sports, where Richard was more of a nerd, who loved to play video games and read books.
“Hey Ricky, let’s check out this shop over here” Lucas suggested, as they walked past the strange, little store. The store was filled with small shelves, stocked with small items resembling little trinkets and items of jewelry. “Maybe you can get a gift for your sister over here!”
“I doubt it, but we can look around…” Ricky sighed, as the two teens pushed open the glass door before walking into the store. Soon, they were greeted by a short, skinny Chinese man.
“Can I help you find anything?” the man asked them.
“No, we’re just looking around…” Ricky just sighed.
“We need something as a gift for his sister…. Or, something that will help him get better at sports!” Luke smiled.
“Oh, will you hush?” Ricky grumbled. “I can’t help it that I’m not as athletic as you!”
“I’ve been trying to get him on a diet for months! He needs something to help him get more active so he can go to the gym and get into shape! We need more players on the football team, the swim team, the soccer team…” Luke continued.
“Luke! Will you shut up already?” Richard hissed.
The boys just continued to wander around while the Chinese man smiled, walked into the storage room and returned, holding a small box in his hand.
“I think I hold the answer to all your problems right here!” he replied.
Both boys walked up to the Chinese man.
“What… What are you talking about?” Ricky wondered out loud.
“Well, you want to improve your friend, right?” the Chinese man said, pointing at Luke.
“Oh, yes. I mean, I wish I could make him stronger and more athletic and so on. Yes!” Lucas replied. “That would be great, but I know this is impossible.”
“And, you, on the other hand, you want to be stronger, better, more athletic, maybe even taller and more attractive?” the Chinese man asked, while looking at Richard.
“Oh, Uhh, it would be nice!” Ricky shrugged as he laughed.
“I hold an object in my hand which can do these things. Since you two boys know each other very well, this item can be used to improve your lives!” the Chinese man said, removing the lid from the small box as he placed the box upside down and allowing a small object to fall into the palm of his hand.
The object looked like a small, leather amulet which had a gold chain running through it and a small, blue jewel attached to the center. It was only an inch wide and slightly more than an inch-and-a-half in height.
“What the hell is that?” Ricky asked him.
“This is an amulet! I can press this against you, which will activate its magical powers. Then, I will ask your friend to wear it around his neck from now on. This will allow him to transform and improve your body from now on, just by singing or thinking the commands.” The Chinese man explained to the two teens.
“Say, what? No way!” Richard groaned.
“Oh, come on! That sounds great! How much?” Lucas asked.
“You can have it for one Dollar!”
Lucas pulled his wallet out of his pocket and he handed the Chinese man a Dollar bill. In return, the man handed him the amulet in his palm of his hand.
“Great! How does it work?” Luke wondered.
“Well, your friend needs to take off his shirt!”
“Oh, come ON!” Richard groaned.
“Come on, dude… Take it off!” Lucas ordered.
“I’m gonna do this just to prove to you that this dumb thing doesn’t work…” Richard mumbled as he took off his t-shirt, revealing his flat, hairy chest. Of course, he had no muscle at all. The shirt also uncovered his small beer belly, since Richard was slightly overweight.
The Chinese man took the amulet from Lucas and while Richard stood there, he placed the amulet in his hand and he walked right up to him, pressing the amulet up against Richard’s chest. The amulet began to glow a bright, blue light, engulfing Richard’s entire body as Lucas looked on in shock.
“RICKY! Holy shit! What the hell is going on?”
Then, the Chinese man turned towards Lucas, he removed the amulet from Richard’s chest and he gently hung the amulet around Luke’s neck. He tightened the chain so that the amulet was snug around his neck and could not be pulled off by anyone.
“There! You’re all set!” the Chinese man smiled as Lucas looked down and felt the amulet hanging from his neck. “You are now in complete control of his body!”
Luke just stared at Richard.
“Okay…. Uhh… Put your shirt on, Ricky!” Luke said.
Richard felt compelled to obey his buddy and he immediately picked up his shirt from the counter and he put it back on again.
“Alright! Thank you!”
The boys walked out of the store and they went home, which was only 5 minutes away from the mall. Richard often spent the night at Lucas’ house since the boys lived right next door to one another, they were neighbors!