
Life has been so wonderful ever since the Golden Orb came into my life. I picked it up in the strangest of places. When the old lady across the street died, her family held a garage sale to help clear out her house. "Mostly junk," I heard one of her grandsons say, rather ungratefully. It was a shame that he was being so disrespectful, because he was otherwise a pretty nice looking kid. Probably played sports in school. It was hot out, so he was just wearing some cargo shorts and a
wifebeater. I could see that he had a nice little body underneath.
I spent some time digging through the old, dusty cardboard boxes that they had brought down from the attic, none of it really catching my eye until I saw the Orb. Despite everything else in the box looking ancient, dirty, and in disrepair, the Orb glowed brightly in the sunlight. Something really drew me to it, and I hastily covered it up with some of the other items in the box.
"I'll give you five dollars for the whole box," I said, secretly feeling like I was getting quite a steal.
"Hell yeah," said the old lady's grandson, "Takin' it away by the box-full!"
I gladly gave him the five dollars and made my way back to my own house. Once inside, I closed the blinds and spilled the contents of the box out on the coffee table. The Orb sat nicely on top, just as if it had been placed there. I picked it up and examined it. It was warm, probably from being out in the sun all morning.
As I held it, I began to feel a strange connection to it -- and the longer I held it, the stronger the connection became. I faintly heard a voice in my head, and I knew that it was somehow coming from the Orb.
"Who do you want to be...?" it asked.
I thought it to be a very strange question, and didn't know quite how to answer.
"Who do you want to be...?" it repeated.
The first image that flashed in my mind was that of the old lady's hot grandson in his tight little wifebeater, sweat dripping off his brow.
"I can read your mind!" the Orb said, before suddenly becoming very hot.
I dropped it in response, shaking my head to try and clear out those thoughts.
"I should never have brought that thing in my house!" I thought.
I reached out to pick it up, resolving to just throw the whole box out in the garage and forget about it, when I noticed that my arm was -- well, not my arm! It was all tan and youthful-looking. And muscular. I mean, not in a bodybuilder way, but sort of in the way that... a teenager would have if he played a lot of sports in school.
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed, and I think I heard my voice crack a little bit.
I rushed over to the nearest mirror and there, sure enough, was the handsome face of the old lady's grandson reflected back at me.
"Awesome..." I said, my voice every bit that of a seventeen-year-old's. My body felt great -- far better than it had when I was 17 myself!
Instantly, I rushed back to the Orb and picked it up.
"Who do you want to be...?" I heard it ask again.
"I can be anybody?" I asked, not sure if I would get a response.
"Who do you want to be...?" it repeated.
I concentrated on an image of a guy I used to date, Keith. He was really hot, but turned out to be a complete jerk in the end. The Orb became hot again, but I held onto it this time, and I could almost feel the transformation washing over me.
As the Orb cooled down, I knew that I was no longer a teenager. I was Keith, with his big, hairy chest and masculine good looks. How a guy like him even considered dating a guy like me, I never knew. But, then again, as long as the Orb continued to work, I wouldn't ever have that concern again. I could become anybody that I wanted, any of the hottest guys in the world. Getting guys was no longer going to be a problem for me, I guessed.
I spent the rest of the afternoon trying out tons of different bodies, from the comical to the devastatingly good-looking. I settled on a body that I pulled from an underwear catalogue, boyishly cute with a totally ripped body, for the evening. The next day I would go out and try out some different bodies in public. But for that night I was blissfully content staying at home and knowing that for the rest of my life, I could be whoever in the world I wanted to be.