Your name is George. You just moved in your college dorm with Freddy, your new pal and roommate. Both you guys are 18 years old and you’re education majors at the local community college. You guys are from the same town, and you have known each other for over ten years. You’re more into sports and Freddy is more of a nerd, so you guys compliment each other quite well.
You’re looking to get some cool stuff for your college dorm when you find this strange new shop in the large shopping mall. You’re curious so you decide to walk in. You find many racks and shelves filled with small widgets and items which resemble jewelry and trinkets. You come across a section with the sign “Amulets” hanging overhead. You vaguely remember from social studies that an amulet is something associated with magic or witchcraft. You almost walk past the shelf, when one item grabs your attention.
You spot a small, black box with the words “MUSCLE AMULET” printed in gold on the top side of the box. You’re curious and you grab the small box, which is only two inches wide, long and deep. You slide the top off and see two items inside: A wooden amulet with a metal chain, and another necklace with a small pendant. Both the amulet as well as the pendant have a symbol of a flexed arm drawn on it.
“What the heck is this?” you mumble.
“Can I help you?” the old Chinese man says. He clearly works at the shop. “Ah, I see you’re interested in our amulet?”
“Uhh, yeah, well… This seems interesting, but… Does this really work?” you wonder skeptically.
“Oh, of course it works. You can use this amulet to grow the muscles of the person wearing the pendant. Let me show you!” the man said. “Yo, Hong! Come here! HONG!”
A short, skinny Chinese boy came walking out of the back room. He was clearly sitting at a desk in the back room, doing his homework. The boy seemed to be about thirteen years old. He was short and lean.
“Put this pendant around you neck, Hong!” the man told the boy, who was his youngest son.
“Now, you put on the amulet around your neck!” the man said.
You take the amulet and chain, and you place it around your neck. The amulet fits snug around your neck with a steel chain. It feels like it would be hard to remove it.
“Look at my boy.” The man says.
“Take off your shirt, Hong!” the man orders the boy.
Hong removes his t-shirt, revealing his thin, skinny frame. The boy has no muscle at all.
“Now, you see Hong before you. He is skinny, right?”
“Yeah, he’s quite… lean.” You reply.
“Imagine him gaining some muscle, in his arms or in his chest!” the man said.
You look at the boy. You see his thin arms. You imagine his biceps and triceps growing in his arms.
Then, something happens. You hear a soft, bone cracking noise. The boy’s arms suddenly bulge! His biceps start to grow, like inflated balloons. His arms slowly and gradually become bigger and thicker, just as you had imagined. After a few moments, the boy is standing before you, with the arms of a teenage bodybuilder.
“Ohhh…. Nice!” Hong grins, as he raises up his arm and flexes, making a big ball of muscle swell up on his arm. “I’m so strong!”
“Whoa! I just did that to him?”
“Yes, you gave the boy muscular arms!” the Chinese man smiled. “So, you see, the amulet works!”
“Oh! Nice! I… Uhh… I’ll take it!” you say, hoping to surprise your nerdy friend Freddy with this!
You pay just 10 Dollars for the small box with the amulet and the pendant. The Chinese man smiles as you leave the shop. And Hong just flexes, showing off his big biceps which you had left him with.
How will Freddy look, after you had given him the pendant? How big will you make his muscles grow?