“Wow,” Jacob mumbled to himself, as he studied the beauty of the round, clear, perfect sphere on his desk, which was the amazing Pearl of Potential. “I wonder what all I could do with this thing?”
Then, he heard a noise coming from outside. It was the neighbor’s car pulling in the driveway at the house which was right across the street. Jacob could see the house clearly from his second-level bedroom window. He spotted a lady getting out of the front seat of the car and a young boy stepping out from the backseat, carrying a soccer ball in one hand and a shopping bag in the other.
“He’s home! Nick just got home! I should go over there and show him what I got!” Jacob thought, as he took the pearl and stuffed it in his backpack. He quickly put on his shoes before he ran down the stairs and stumbled out the front door.
“Yo, Nick! Did you just get home from soccer practice?” Jacob asked as he came running across the street. The boys lived in a quiet, gated, residential neighborhood with narrow streets and very little traffic on the roads. “You usually come home earlier than this, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but I had to stop by the bookstore first. Here, let me show you in my room!” Nick replied, as he led his friend through the front door and into the house. They walked up the stairs and to the bedroom, which was the last room at the very end of the hallway. “I had to buy a new math book for school today!”
Nick led Jacob into his room, and he closed the door behind him. Then, he pulled out the brand-new math book from the shopping bag.
“What did you need a new math book for? I thought you already had one. I saw you walk around with your book at school today!” Jacob wondered.
“No, you saw me walking around with THIS…” Nick said, as he pulled another book out of his trash can. The book was completely soaked! The pages were stuck together, and the cover was all bent from the exposure to water. “This WAS my math book!”
“Oh, no! What happened?”
“It was Greg Grumble, the big bully!” Nick sighed, as he sat down on the edge of his bed while Jacob sat down at the chair facing the computer desk. “Greg grabbed my bookbag and he tossed my math book into the water fountain because I refused to give him my lunch money! He’s such a big doofus!”
“Oh, man. That sucks, dude. I’m sorry that you’re still putting up with these bullies in your class.” Jacob said sadly.
“Well, I’m kinda the nerd and the class weakling…” Nick sighed, as he adjusted his glasses. “It doesn’t help that I’m short and skinny, either.”
Just then, Nick’s laptop beeped, just as one of his online gamer friends had sent him a text message.
“Oh! Are you still in the Fortnite league? Nice!” Jacob grinned, as he turned to glance at the screen on Nick’s laptop, which was right in front of him on the desk.
“Yeah, I gotta play my video games every day. They help me forget the problems I have in school with all the thugs who push me around, you know?” Nick mumbled. “I just wish I were a little stronger.”
“Oh! Speaking of which…” Jacob said, as he turned around to face Nick again. “I gotta show you something cool that I got today!”
Jacob opened his backpack and he pulled out the nice, round, clear sphere.
“Check it out!”
Jacob handed the pearl over to Nick, who held his hands together with palms facing upward. The pearl rolled from one hand to the next.
“What is it? A ball? It feels kinda heavy!” Nick remarked.
“It’s the Pearl of Potential!” Jacob explained. “I got it from an old man who almost got ran over by a car on the street over here, in front of our house! I ran outside to help him, and the man gave me this!”
“What?” Nick said, giving him a skeptical look. “Why would some stranger give you something like this?”
“Because I was trying to help him! He said the pearl has the potential to grant wishes! It can make you super strong so you can protect others!”
Nick continued to let the pearl roll from one hand to the other.
“What? I mean… Do you believe that?” he responded. “Have you tried it out yet?”
“No, not yet. Here give it to m—” Jacob said, when he got distracted when Nick’s laptop beeped again. “Oh, you got some more messages from your gamer friends, man! Here, let me read them!”
While Jacob was being distracted, Nick just stared at the beautiful, hard, clear pearl, which sat in his hands. He thought about what Jacob had just told him. He looked intently at the pearl for a moment. Could this really make his wishes come true, especially on a day like this after he got bullied in school?
“Gosh, it would be nice if this pearl could grant wishes. I know what I would wish for. I’d wish to have the strength of a thousand men! That way, I could protect my friends from thugs everywhere!” Nick blurted out as he stared at the pearl in his hands.
“Wait, what?” Jacob said, as he felt startled when he heard Nick’s words. “What did you say? Did you just make a wish? Where’s my pearl? What did you do to the pearl?”
Jacob quickly turned around to face Nick when he saw something which was amazing.
The pearl in Nick’s hands let out a bright, white glow, engulfing Nick’s entire body with very bright light. It became so bright in the room that Jacob had to close his eyes!
“Wait! What’s happening? Nick! NICK!”
When the bright light dimmed, Nick had fallen backwards and ended up lying flat on his back on the mattress, with the pearl rolling next to him. Nick let out a soft moan as he fell unconscious while the clear pearl suddenly turned a soft grey color.
“What the hell? NICK!” Jacob shouted in panic, as he got up and rushed to the bedside where his friend lay.
As he lay there, Nick’s body began a weird transformation, right before Jacob’s eyes!
“NICK! No, no, NOOOO! Don’t die on me! Ohhhh! What’s happening?” Jacob screamed as he witnessed Nick’s changes unfold before him.
Nick’s chest suddenly grew thicker and much wider than it was before! His arms practically doubled in thickness as muscles grew everywhere! Mighty delts and traps surrounded Nick’s neck while his shoulders grew much wider than they were. Nick’s torso also widened, with a well-defined six-pack of abdominal muscles forming across his stomach. Luckily, his clothes grew in proportion to the changes to his body, and Jacob witnessed how the short and skinny nerd was being transformed into an amazing athlete, all within just a few seconds!
“Nick! Please say something! ANYTHING!” Jacob pleaded as he tried to wake up his pal.
Nick’s quads began to grow as well, practically growing to three times as wide as before. Thick cords of raw muscle fibers formed across the mighty legs, making the boy look like a professional soccer player. His calves ballooned to large softballs, and his muscles were fully covered in thick, long veins everywhere. Lastly, Nick’s vision was restored to perfection! He no longer needed to wear his glasses anymore! He could see perfectly without them from this point forward.
Jacob was witnessing how the young kid from across-the-street was being transformed into a junior bodybuilder!
“Ohh…” Nick moaned softly. “Where am I?”
“NICK! GET UP, NICK!” Jacob shouted.
Nick opened his eyes and he looked around, feeling a bit groggy. His vision quickly improved. He didn’t need his glasses anymore!
“Jacob? What… What happened?” Nick spoke quietly.
“Dude! What was the last thing you said when you were holding the pearl in your hands?” Jacob asked him.
Nick slowly sat up and shook his head. He looked around when he noticed how he looked and felt different. He was bigger, heavier, and… a LOT stronger!
“Uhmm… I can’t remember… Something about being stronger…”
“DUDE! Look at you! You’re all buff! You got huge muscles, like… EVERWHERE!” Jacob shouted out. “Here, let me help you get off the bed.”
Jacob held Nick by the arm as the heavier boy slowly slid off the side of the bed. Then, the two boys stumbled over to the bathroom, where Nick saw his reflection in the full-body mirror for the very first time!
“Oh, wow! WOW! The pearl worked! It REALLY worked!” Nick cheered as he examined his body and flexed his large muscles.
“Dude! How strong are you? What did you wish for?” Jacob asked him again.
“To have the strength of a thousand men!” Nick smiled.
Jacob’s jaw dropped to the floor.
“Ohmygosh, Nick… What have you done? Not only did you take my wish, but… You made yourself superhuman STRONG!” Jacob explained.
“You gotta help me, Jake!” Nick said, as he turned towards his friend and looked up at him. “Help me use this strength and power!”
“It’s okay, big guy! You’re gonna be our protector from now on…” Jacob smiled, as he walked up to the very muscular boy and wrapped his arms around him. The only thing was that Nick had become so big and so wide, that Jacob’s arms were unable to wrap completely around the younger boy’s muscular frame. “I’ll mentor you from now on!”
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