Little did he suspect it would come in the form of a door-to-door salesman. Jordan has only been home from school about an hour when the doorbell rang. Jackson must have forgotten his key again. Sighing, he went to let his now much-larger 'little' brother in, and came face-to-face with a curious-looking old man.
"Well, hello young fellow!" The old guy beamed at Jason. He was wearing what looked like a black bath robe and a funky-looking flat cap. "Mort's the name, and dreams are my game. I have the answer to any problem you can think of, guaranteed!"
Jordan scowled. "Look, we don;t buy stuff like that. Sorry." He started to shut the door, only to find the old guy's foot blocking the opening.
"Just give me a chance, son." The old guy grinned. You don't believe me, do you. OK, tell you what. You tell me what you want most, and I will provide it. If you are satisfied afterward, you pay me something I know you can afford. If you aren't, then you don't pay me anything at all. Can't get more risk-free than that."
"Riiight." Jordan gave the guy a sour look. "OK, I want to be the biggest, strongest stud around. You got some special weight drink or training program that will do that? Or maybe lift shoes to make me look taller? Or padded shirts to make me look like I got some more muscles? Let me tell you mister, I tried all of those, and a hundred stupid pills, too."
The old man raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "No, I don't have any of those. I do have something that will make you the biggest, strongest stud around, but it's pretty potent. I don't think you're man enough to mess with it."
"Oh, yeah?" Jordan decided to call the old man's bluff. "Pull it out and hand it over. And if it don't work, you get nothing, OK?"
The old man smiled, but the expression made Jordan feel a little uneasy. "That's the deal. But if it does work, I get to make three changes in your life. You can refuse any of the changes by simply saying No. Deal?" He stuck out his hand.
Jordan didn;t quite trust the guy, but if all he had to do was say no, then what harm could there be? He took the wrinkled hand and shook it. "Deal." What the...? He snatched his hand back - it had felt like an electrical shock!
"Excellent." The old guy reached into his robe and fished around in a pocket. There was a lot of clinking and clanking, though the pocket looked empty from the outside. Finally, he smiled and pulled out a dark blue glass bottle. "Here you go. Taken internally, it will grant your desire. Used as a lotion, the effect is.. a little different. I'll come back tomorrow to see what you think."
Jordan took the bottle and looked at it. 'Equinox Stud Formula.' There was a stylized horse under the name. Everything looked old fashioned, with the lettering and even the horse hand-drawn in faded blue ink. "So, how long does it take...?" Jordan looked up and blinked. The doorway was empty. He blinked and looked outside. There was no sign of the old guy anywhere. How could he have moved so fast?
Feeling a little bewildered, he shut and locked the door, and went upstairs to his room. The top was sealed with wax, and he had to chip it away to unscrew the cap. There was some sort of pale blue liquid inside - almost clear, but thicker than water. It had a strange smell - like sweat and salt and something like bread. Probably colored syrup of some kind. He started to toss it in the waste basket, but stopped. He knew it was stupid, but after trying everything else, stupid stuff was all that was left.
There were no instructions. Well, the guy said to take it internally to get what he wanted - that meant drinking it. What the Hell? He put the bottle to his lips and upended it. The stuff tasted like grass. He'd chewed blades before and knew the flavor. When he put the bottle down, he'd swallowed about a quarter of the total. He capped it up and waited. Nothing happened. Well, at least it didn't make him sick.
"Hey, Jordan!" Jackson called from the hallway. "You in your room?"
Jordan put the bottle in the top drawer of his desk, suddenly embarrassed. How lame was this? Sighing, he called back out. "Yeah. Just getting ready to do my homework."
He headed for the door, then stopped, frowning. What was wrong with his pants? They were pulling tight around his thighs. Looking down, he blinked and stared. The cuffs of his pants, which had been brushing his shoes just a minute ago, were now hanging just above his ankles!