The Thermometer

By Bill Rowan

As I was walking to my car after a long day of shopping I came across this little hole-in-the-wall shop I had never seen before. From the outside it looked like one of those olde musty book shops like one might see in Dickens’ London, ones that held wonderful treasures concealed inside. My curiosity aroused, I entered, not knowing what to expect. Sure enough the scent of “olde” assaulted my nose as I gazed on the plethora of wonders.

“May I help you, sir?” A friendly looking older gentleman asked as he approached. He fit perfectly with the aura the store was exuding.

“Just browsing, thank you.”

“Take your time. If there is anything I can help you with, let me know.” He started to move away and as he did my eyes focused on something shiny.

“What is that?” I asked him as I pointed to a long glass tube with spheres suspended in a clear liquid. Each sphere was filled with some sort of colored liquid, giving the object a very intriguing appearance.

“That? That is a Galileo thermometer. The young fellow that brought it in said he thought it was broken though because the balls always stay at the top. Said his uncle had it for years before he just disappeared one day.”

I had seen such tubes before but had never bothered to find out what they were. I couldn’t fathom how little glass spheres could accurately tell the temperature. Science was never my strong suit.

“How much?” I asked as I stared transfixed. He named a price and after a little bit of haggling I bought it on the spot. While it might not be anything other than a conversation piece I found looking at the balls to be quite fascinating. He carefully wrapped my newly acquired treasure in tissue paper and placed it in a bag so it would be safe on my trip home.

When I arrived at my house the first thing I did was gently move the thermometer to a table and carefully strip away its cocoon.  Much to my surprise all the spheres were now at the bottom of the tube. What the…? I found myself mesmerized by the spheres, feeling somehow compelled to watch them even if they never were going to move. I must have sat there for hours staring. If anyone had been around to ask I never would have been able to explain what fascinated me so about little balls suspended in a glass tube. Eventually I pulled myself out of my hypnotic state, but I could still feel myself drawn to the mysterious thermometer. That night I slept fitfully, dreaming of swirling colors as if I was on some psychedelic acid trip.

The next morning I awoke feeling quite groggy and surprisingly sore. Must have tossed and turned all night. I rolled myself out of bed and stood but something felt wrong. I shook the feeling off and put on my robe before heading to the kitchen for my morning java. I glanced at the thermometer as I made my way. One of the spheres was now at the top of the tube! This is one very weird thermometer…

Still half-awake I grabbed my coffee and a quick breakfast before heading into the bathroom to get myself cleaned up and dressed for the day. That odd feeling of something being wrong returned. That is when I noticed my robe was not down around my calves as it usually was. Impossibly, it was just above my knees now. It most certainly wasn’t that high up last night when I put it on. Stranger still, the legs and feet I was looking at were not the ones I had last night either. Gone were the smallish feet and short spindly legs I had known for years. Now I had good sized feet attached to long hairless muscular legs covered in taut youthful tanned skin – powerful looking legs like one would get from working out at a gym multiple times a week. What else has changed?

I now had a much longer stride than before thanks to my new improved legs but now my mind was concentrating on how I was walking so while I made my way quickly to the bathroom, I did so quite clumsily. Disrobing, I looked in the mirror. Changed face? Nope. Same old wrinkles and pale skin, not to mention the thinning hair on top, greeted my eyes. Arms and torso? No changes there – still skinny as ever. Dick? Still the pathetic excuse I lived with. But thanks to my leg improvements I was now about four inches taller. Unfortunately seeing the upper half of my body on those same legs created a strange anomaly. The feeling of having powerful young legs was intoxicating but being such a mish mash of age/youth weakling/stud was not exactly something I wanted to live with. I had no idea how the change had happened or if I could reverse it even if I wanted to. I shrugged my shoulders. Can’t do anything about it now. Might as well shower and get dressed.

I had to get used to my new height as I showered. The water hit my body in different spots than before. I closed my eyes as I lathered up, imagining what it would be like to have the rest of the body to match my legs. Blonde or dark haired? Classically handsome or male model material? Shredded or just nicely toned?

As I was dreaming I could tell something else was happening as my arms began to pulse. I opened my eyes just in time to watch aghast as my two twigs expanded with hard steely muscle, lengthening while my fingers grew longer and vice-like. I involuntarily flexed my new guns. And, like my legs, they were now hairless with taut tanned skin.

Not realizing my own strength anymore, I almost tore the faucets from the wall when I shut the shower off. Never having been exceptionally strong in my life, I was ecstatic to think I now had the ability to tear bare metal with my hands, just like Superman! Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but I was definitely no 90-pound weakling anymore. I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry myself off, my shoulders and back aching at the weight they were so unaccustomed to supporting. I turned to look in the mirror again, still seeing the mish mash but now looking even stranger with such large appendages attached to my pathetically scrimpy torso. How am I ever going to explain this?

Grabbing some clothes, I started to pull the pants up over my legs. A loud “RRRRRIIIIIIIPPPPP” and the pants gasped their last. My legs were just too large for any pants I owned so I simply wrapped the towel around my waist as a stop gap measure until I could think of something else. I pulled the largest sweatshirt I could come up with over my head. I put my arms into the sleeves, again hearing a loud rip as the material was just not going to cover what I now had. Sleeveless sweatshirt it is then.

I had to look at myself in the mirror one last time before I went back to the kitchen to get something to satisfy the massive hunger I had. At least with some semblance of clothing on I didn’t look half-bad. My torso was amply covered by the shirt so with only my arms and legs showing I looked… well, kind of sexy… except for my head. I’ll cover that up with a paper bag when I go out. I amusedly chuckled to myself.

The thermometer was still sitting on the table when I went out to the kitchen, only now there were two spheres floating at the top. It definitely wasn’t measuring the temperature in the room so… then my imagination kicked in. What if the thermometer is responsible for my body changing? Silly thought. Thermometers just don’t do things like that. But hadn’t the shop owner said the young guy who had brought it to his store told him his uncle had just disappeared? Was it possible the young guy was really the uncle? I shook my head. Crazy idea but…

As I stood there mulling over the possibilities another ball started to rise. This time I could feel my chest pulsing and as the ball made its way up to join the two others, I could tell my torso was changing, getting longer. My shirt started to get tighter as my pecs formed into two mounds of pure muscle. My waist, which had been small to begin with, contracted, abs popping into existence. My back and shoulders broadened, now supporting my arms comfortably. By the time the changes had ceased my makeshift shirt was now much too small, my abs displayed in all their glory beneath the shelf that my chest had become. I ripped off the remnants of my shirt to reveal a hairless and tanned physique the likes of which I had only ever been able to imagine before. I ran my hands over the ridges of muscle and as I crossed my nipples I felt a shiver go throughout my body. I dashed back to the mirror to see a beautiful hunk’s body, wrapped only in a towel, staring back at me. The only mismatches now were my head and my less than stellar manhood.

Obviously, this Galileo thermometer was no mere thermometer. As far as I could tell all it measured was the hotness factor of the owner, or more precisely caused the owner to become hot. Two spheres remained. Two spheres that would somehow alter the last remaining physical traits of my old body. I was not so sure I wanted to find out what the thermometer had in store for me, but I also knew I had no choice in the matter. Fate, Karma, or whatever else one wants to call such things had decided that I be given a second chance at life and that second chance demanded that I have a new body. The fourth sphere began to rise…

A stirring arose in my loins. Such great pleasure shot like wildfire through my body, rendering me to such a state of bliss that I had never known. The towel I had wrapped around me dropped to the waiting floor below, revealing the changes taking place to my family jewels. Each tug to my penis sent chills through my body as the girth grew more and my balls enlarged to match in perfect harmony. A pressure needing desperate release built within me and yet I was unable to get the relief I so desperately wanted. At least until the sphere had reached the top. Then, like Vesuvius erupting in all its glory, I came. The rush of younger hormones overtook my senses as if I were being spirited to heaven. What man or woman alive would not want to experience the pleasure of my company? As I came down from my euphoric state I knew that answer. My head remained old and withered, sitting on top of the magnificence that had been born to grace the world. None would want me this way, regardless of how well-endowed I was.

The last sphere started to rise…

What will happen to me when the changes are complete? Will I still be myself or will I disappear completely? Will reality change to reflect the new me? My mind was awhirl with unanswered questions as the sphere continued to rise. I watched apprehensively as my head started to change. My hair grew back thick and perfectly complimented my now blue eyes. Years melted from my face, my facial features softening until I had a pretty-boy yet manly look about me with stubble lining my squarer jaw. I was handsome, no doubt about that, with a body to die for.

The sphere neared the top…

Memories of another lifetime crept into my head, becoming my new reality. I had come to my uncle’s house to dispose of his possessions after he had mysteriously disappeared and the bank was reclaiming his house.

The sphere came to rest at the top…

I awoke the next morning after a very refreshing night’s sleep. It was very strange to be in my uncle’s home after so many years away, but I had a mission. After a leisurely breakfast I packed his belongings, carefully wrapping a mysterious looking tube with spheres at the top…. A Galileo thermometer I think it was called. I packed the car up and headed to town. Somehow I got lost and found myself at a little hole-in-the-wall shop that looked like it might deal in oddities like the thermometer.

As I stepped inside with the thermometer a kindly old gentleman greeted me.

“Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you today?”

“I have a Galileo thermometer my uncle had for years. I was wondering how much I could get for it. I think it is broken, though, as all the balls seem to stay at the top. Any interest?"

He examined the piece before quoting me a price. We haggled for a bit and eventually came upon a mutually agreeable sum. I walked out of the store and for a fleeting moment I had the strangest sense of déjà vu. Shrugging it off, I headed back to my rental car. I couldn’t wait to return to LA as soon as I had completed my task. My future was looking hot.