The Necklace

by The Power Company


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DOWNLOADED FROM
http://www.superwomenmania.com/storybank
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A strange artifact is uncovered on ... a softball field?



PART ONE


	Some days, this job really sucks, the man thought to himself 
as he watched about thirty kids playing softball. His name was 
Mike Green. He was a substitute teacher putting in his time as a 
PE coach. It wasn't that he disliked teaching. Actually he was 
pretty good at it and hoped to find a full time job somewhere 
soon. Hopefully teaching fourth graders, or even first graders. 
Anything but junior high. But you go where they need you. And you 
put up with it.
	Today he was standing outside enjoying the fresh spring air 
and suffering through another period of 9th grade PE. He had been 
teaching this class for the last four days and he was glad that 
tomorrow was the last day. It's not that the kids are so bad, 
individually. But get them together and their hormones go wild. 
And the boys, was I this big of a jerk in 9th grade, he wondered?
	The boys were constantly challenging the girls in softball, 
or any other sport for that matter. Maybe because it wasn't that 
long ago that the girls could beat them in sports. But by 9th 
grade the advantage was definitely towards the boys. These boys 
are shaving, their bodies developing manly muscles. But since 9th 
grade is still part of the junior high, they still act like little 
kids around their female counterparts.
	The girls are developing by this time, too. And they love 
the attention that the boys give them. So they usually agree to 
play girls against boys in PE. Which usually ends up in a 
slaughter. And that is no fun for anyone. Especially for the poor 
sub.
	The game was progressing as it had every day that week. The 
girls could barely get any baserunners while the boys had easily 
scored about twenty runs. With amazing ease, they knocked the ball 
over the heads of the girls in the field or took advantage of 
throwing mistakes as they rounded the bases. The girls, 
unaccustomed to running with their newly developed breasts and 
wider hips, seemed to be playing in slow motion. To make matters 
worse, the boys always made fun of the girls and the way they ran 
or threw the ball.
	Mike constantly looked at his watch hoping the period would 
end soon and this mockery could stop. It was the last period he 
had to teach that day and he was beat. He wished these girls could 
play better, could show these arrogant boys a thing or two. And he 
wished that some of these girls would show even a little bit of 
interest in the game. Most of them chatted about classes and boys 
and dating. Others just sat and stared. And one girl was busily 
digging in the grass behind the backstop.
	"Melinda!" Mike shouted at the digger, "You're up next, 
let's go!"
	The girl rose from the ground and walked casually up to the 
teacher. She was holding something dirty in her hand. "Hey, mister 
sub-guy, here," she handed Mike a small metal object on a thin 
chain. "I found it buried back there. It might belong to someone." 
She squinted up at the teacher through incredibly thick glasses 
which made her blinking eyes look twice as large as they really 
were.
	"Okay, I'll turn it in at the office after school. Now grab 
a bat and warm up." he ordered the girl. Without another thought 
he slipped the object into the pocket of his shorts.
	Melinda grabbed a small bat that fit her hand well and took 
some practice swings. Just then the girl at bat swung with all her 
might and knocked the ball slowly back to the pitcher. He scooped 
it up and laughed as he teased the batter with the ball. Then he 
stuck out the same foot as his throwing arm, imitating the way the 
girls were throwing, arched his back, and tossed the ball to first 
base easily beating the girl.
	"Two outs!" Mike shouted. "And knock off the teasing Will, 
or I'll put you into right field! Okay, next batter!" He shoved 
his hands into his pockets out of exasperation and started 
fingering his keys and that metal thing. "I wish each of these 
girls were as strong as these boys and could play ball like they 
do," he whispered to himself, "then we'd take their egos down a 
notch."
	For what seemed like a minute, but was really just a second, 
there was a strange silence. It fell over the field and the 
players like a soft blanket. But as quickly as it came, it was 
gone. The boys started moving in when they saw who was up. Melinda 
shook her head and blinked her 'fish eyes' several times. She 
seemed to be slightly dizzy.
	"You okay, Melinda?" Mike yelled.
	She feebly waved her hand to let him know that she was 
alright and then stepped to the plate. Slowly some of the girls 
looked up from their conversations and moved toward the backstop.
	"C'mon Melinda, get a hit," one encouraged.
	"Let's go Melinda, you can do it," another joined in.
	Melinda watched as the first pitch sailed over her head. She 
had an advatage that not only was she the skinniest girl in class, 
she was one of the shortest and it took a while for the pitcher to 
adjust to her height.
	"Thata girl, Mel, wait for a good one!" more girls were 
joining the chorus.
	"Good eye! Good eye!"
	Mike realized that almost all the girls were now watching 
Melinda bat. They were taking an interest in the game! He joined 
the others, "Okay Melinda, just make a connection."
	The second pitch was right in there for a strike but Melinda 
caught a piece of it and fouled it back. Mike was surprised at the 
swing. It looked like Melinda was really trying to hit the ball.
	The boys in the infield began taunting the small red-haired 
girl, trying to get her flustered. But her concentration just 
increased all the more.
	The next pitch was again coming in just perfectly when 
Melinda swung. The sound of the hit echoed through the field. The 
dumbfounded pitcher could only stare in amazement as the ball 
streaked over his head out of reach of his outstretched glove.  
Melinda, shocked by her hit, stood at home plate watching it sail 
into the outfield and over the fielder's head as well.
	"RUN!!" several girls shouted, trying to animate their team 
mate.
	With a hesitation, Melinda dropped the bat and took off for 
first. The outfielder was still chasing the ball, so the girl 
coaching first base waved her on to second. By the time Melinda 
reached the bag, the ball was just coming in to the infield. She 
held on second, ecstatic for the first double she had ever hit.
	"Let's go girls!" shouted one of the normally quiet girls as 
she picked up a bat, "If Mel can get a hit, so can we!"
	She walked confidently to the plate and waited for a pitch 
in the strike zone, then laced a lined drive over third base 
advancing Melinda to third while she waited at first.
	"Way to go, Sherry!" shouted an exuberant Mike. He turned to 
the others excitedly, "Okay, who's up next?" 
	The next girl got a good solid hit between first and second 
which scored Melinda and got Sherry to second. Next was another 
shot down the middle that almost took the pitcher's hand off. He 
couldn't react in time as the girls seemed to be running faster 
and faster with each batter.
	Then Gabby came to bat. She was obviously the most athletic 
girl in the class. Mike had admired the way she swung the bat and 
run all week long. If only she could get a hit and extend this 
unbelievable streak of good luck, he thought. He wasn't sure, but 
as he looked at Gabby's back, it seemed like he could actually see 
the muscles in her back and shoulders bunch and flex as she 
prepared to swing. Nervously, and without talking to each other, 
some of the boys were backing up. All of their boisterous bravado 
seemed to have faded in the last few minutes.
	The first pitch was a little wobbly as the pitcher was still 
shaken from the last play and fell well in front of the plate. The 
next pitch was slightly better, almost reaching Gabby's front 
foot. The pitcher shook out his arm as a couple of boys encouraged 
him.
	The next pitch was perfect. The pitcher knew it. The catcher 
knew it. And Gabby knew it, too. Muscles that had been tensed in 
her back and shoulders exploded with power as she twisted her body 
into the swing. She gripped the bat like a vice as her forearms 
swelled with the effort. The ball shot off the bat like a bullet 
and arched higher and higher to the outfield. The unfortunate boy 
who was covering that area began to race backwards as he realized 
that the ball was still climbing as it passed his position.
	He continued running away from the diamond as fast as his 
legs could carry him as the girls jubilantly raced around the 
bases. By the time the outfielder had retrieved the ball, Gabby 
was crossing home plate with her arms raised in exultation. With 
whoops and cheers, the girls all gave her 'high fives' and patted 
her on the butt. Finally the ball rolled into the infield as the 
stunned boys stared gloomily at the ground.
	Mike was stunned by the turn-around in the girls' attitudes 
and achievements. But just as quickly as it had come, the ecstatic 
moment passed. The next girl up hit a high foul ball that was 
pulled in by the first baseman, and the inning was over.
	But the girls were out on the field before all the boys 
could run in. The infielders were scooping up practice grounders 
and practicing the throw to first. The outfielders were running 
under impossibly high flies that the others were throwing. The 
pitcher was zeroing in on the strike zone with deadly accuracy. 
They were psyched and ready for the boys.
	The first boy up hit a lazy grounder to shortstop, which she 
easily stopped and threw to first in time to get the runner. Then 
Zeke came up to bat. He was a big kid and by far the strongest boy 
in the school. He wasn't about to be shown up by some girls when 
it came to hitting home runs. The first pitch was right in his 
favorite area and he blasted it. With arms raised he trotted 
towards first base. The ball sailed over the outfielder's head and 
continued to roll for quite a ways. All of the boys were hooting 
and hollering his praises as he rounded first base. Suddenly the 
ball came whistling in from the outfield and smacked into the 
second basesman's glove. Realizing that he might be tagged out, 
Zeke scrambled back to first as fast as he could, barely reaching 
it safely before the ball came whizzing over his head into the 
first baseman's mitt.
	Zeke was stunned that the girl could throw that hard and 
that fast. That should have been an easy homerun. He dusted off 
his hands and got ready to run to second. He wasn't going to take 
it easy on these girls anymore, he decided. Now he was going to 
get rough.
	The next boy hit a hard, bouncing ball to third base. Sherry 
was playing there. She expertly handled the ball and threw a quick 
pass to Gabby on second, who tagged the base and prepared to throw 
to first for the double play. But Zeke, realizing that he had no 
chance of getting to the base before the throw, folded his arms in 
front of himself and ran straight at Gabby, trying to break up the 
double play.
	As Gabby turned to throw, the large boy barreled into her. 
But Zeke, all two hundred pounds of him, bounced off the slender 
girl and sprawled backwards on the ground nearly unconscious from 
the collision. Gabby, surprised that she was not knocked over, 
couldn't throw to first in time to get the double play. But her 
surprise soon boiled into anger at the big kid.
	"What the hell do you think you're doing, you big stupid 
asshole!" Gabby stood over the stunned boy shouting at the top of 
her lungs, "You could have killed me!"
	Zeke, still reeling from his run in with the girl, staggered 
to his feet just about the time Mike got to the two of them. He 
initially thought that Gabby was the one who need help. But he was 
startled to see that she was only shaken up.
	"Alright you two. You're both on the bench. You for 
profanities," he pointed to the still fuming Gabby, "and you for 
unsafe behavior," he said to Zeke as he helped him back the the 
side of the field.
	Gabby threw down the ball and glove and stomped off the 
field, far away from where Zeke was stretched out.
	"Let's go, kids!" Mike shouted, "Class isn't over yet! Next 
batter!"
	One of the other girls moved over to second base and the 
next boy came to bat. He hit a long fly out to right field where 
Melinda was playing. It bounced in front of her and she fielded it 
perfectly. But instead of throwing it in to second base, like she 
normally would have, she fired it to first, trying to beat the 
runner.
	The ball was a blur as it sped through the air. It found its 
mark perfectly with a loud whap as it made contact with the 
leather mitt. The girl playing first didn't even seem to notice 
how hard the ball had come in. She kept her right foot planted on 
the base and the runner was out by at least a yard.
	"Yer outta there!" Mike yelled as he made signaled the boy 
out. He couldn't believe the speed and accuracy of Melinda's 
throw. He couldn't believe how into the game the girls had gotten 
in just the last few minutes. Their excitement was contagious and 
he was loving the fact that the girls were finally out-playing the 
boys.
	The entire girls' team whooped and yelled as they ran in to 
take their turn at bat. The next few minutes passed quickly for 
the girls and Mr. Green, but they seemed like an eternity to the 
boys. Every girl that came to the plate either slammed the ball 
solidly through the infield or smashed it over their heads. The 
farther the boys backed up, the farther the balls seemed to fly.
	As Melinda came to bat, Mike noticed that it was alomst time 
to head in to the locker rooms. "Last batter," he called out the 
delight of the boys and the chagrin of the girls.
	Melinda decided to put everything she had into this one. The 
girls had nearly caught up to the boys but there was no chance of 
catching them. So Melinda had nothing to lose. Mike was surprised 
by the amount of power that the small girl put into her swing. The 
ball shot off the bat and headed toward the outfield. Damn, Mike 
thought to himself, even Mark McGuire couldn't hit a softball that 
far!
	Even though he was already deeper than he had ever played 
before, the fielder knew that he wasn't out nearly far enough. He 
took off running with a vague hope of catching the fly ball, but 
as it passed over him he slowed to a jog, now just hoping that he 
could get the ball some time before school ended.
	Melinda raced around first base. Then she caught sight of 
how far she had hit it. She, too, slowed to a jog. Before she 
reached home half of the boys had deserted the field and headed 
in, totally dejected. Only the girls were left to cheer on Melinda 
as she crossed the plate. The girls helped collect the bats, 
balls, and gloves and walked back to the dressing rooms. Their 
excited chatter could be heard through the wall in other locker 
room where the boys dressed quietly, still shocked by the sudden 
turn around and obvious ease that the girls had displayed as they 
punched one home run after another.
	School ended as the kids poured out of their respective 
locker rooms. The girls were still flying high, feeling like they 
ruled the school. The boys, still quiet, stayed to themselves, got 
their books quickly, and dispersed for home. Mike Green picked up 
various towels and articles of clothing left behind by the boys, 
then went into the hallway between the gym and the locker rooms to 
lock up the equipment closet. After some mundane paperwork, he was 
ready to head for home himself.
	Home for Mike was a tiny one bedroom apartment in a nearby 
town. He stopped by for a fast food feast at a local drive 
through. He thought once or twice about going to a local gym where 
his parents had bought a him a membership after graduation. Mike 
had worked out some during his college days, but he was no 
fanatic. He had studied basic fitness and anatomy as part of his 
teaching preparation, so he knew how to get around a gym or teach 
a PE class without looking like a complete idiot. He kept his 6'2" 
body in pretty good shape, although he had been missing a lot of 
exercise lately. But tonight, he was too tired to move much. He 
hunkered down for an exciting evening of surfing - channel surfing 
and net surfing, that is. He crawled into bed sometime in the wee 
hours of the morning, glad that tomorrow would be his last day as 
a PE sub.

	Mike arrived early the next day, picked up his keys at the 
front office and started preparing for another day as 'Coach 
Green.' He looked through the sketchy lesson plans and went to the 
equipment closet to check on what was available. While he was 
standing knee-deep in hulahoops and basketballs, he heard the door 
close behind him.
	"Oh good, I've finally found you, coach," Melinda calmly 
said as she finished closing the door.
	"Um ... it's Melinda, right?" Mike was visibly uncomfortable 
being cornered by a student, especially a female student. "You're 
in my last period class, aren't you? I didn't recognize you with 
out your glasses." Indeed, she looked quite different without 
them. In fact she had a very pretty face. "What do you need?"
	"I need to show you something and ask you a question," she 
replied.
	"Per ... perhaps we should step outside," Mike offered as he 
attempted to walk past her and open the door.
	Melinda placed one hand on the door and held it closed 
despite Mike's tugging, "I don't think so, coach. This will only 
take a minute, and I want the privacy."
	Mike's face was becoming beet red, not only from the 
exertion of trying to pry the door open but also from the 
possibility of being caught in a compromising position with a 
student. All the same, he redoubled his efforts to open the door.
	"Give it up coach, you'll never get past me until I let 
you," Melinda still spoke with calm tones as if she were totally 
in control of the situation. "You don't realize what you're up 
against, do you? Well here, let me show you."
	With that, Melinda easily pushed Mike away from the door and 
back to the center of the room. Then she unzipped the extremely 
baggy jacket that she was wearing and peeled it off so quickly 
that Mike couldn't stop her. He was about to shout 'NO' and pull 
her jacket back on, when he was struck silent by what he saw.
	Melinda was wearing only a sports bra under her jacket that 
was presently being stretched to its limit trying to contain the 
young girl's physique. It was not that her breasts were all that 
large, although they were nicely sized for a girl her age, it was 
that every inch of her upper body was covered in thick, rippling 
muscle. Mike looked in awe as Melinda finished removing her 
jacket. Even the slightest motion set off a series of bunches and 
bulges that seemed to flow together into a symphony of sexy power.
	Melinda tightened the muscles in one forearm and examined it 
with a smile, "Pretty cool, huh?" The muscles writhed and danced 
like steel snakes trying to burst through her soft skin. "And 
check this out," she said pointing to her relaxed bicep. She 
slowly raised her hand causing her bicep to flex larger and 
larger. Finally when she had her hand all the way up, she squeezed 
a little bit harder and pushed up a peak on her bicep that only a 
few bodybuilders have been able to develop.
	Mike stood in stunned silence. He had never seen a girl, or 
woman for that matter, that had the kind of muscularity that this 
girl was demonstrating. Hell, he had seen only a few men in his 
lifetime that could compare to her size but not even close to her 
definition. Every muscle group was clearly etched, from the 
classic 'six-pack' abs to the clearly delineated twin muscles that 
give the name to the biceps. Even her obliques were 'cut' in their 
little shell shapes. The only fat that appeared to be on her was 
neatly collected within the cottony confines of the bra, and that 
was recieving an extra push upward by the bulging pecs underneath. 
And that coupled with her incredibly wide lats was what was 
pushing that bra to the tearing point.
	"Wh - when did th ... I mean ... h - how ... I mean ..." 
Mike stammered, trying to make sense of what he was looking at.
	I don't know how, exactly," Melinda continued flexing and 
checking out her muscles as she talked, "but I know when. Last 
night after school, I felt so good that I practically flew home. I 
was so hungry I ate everything I could find. I even ate more than 
my brother at dinner time, and you should see how huge he is! I 
mean he's gotta be over six feet and weighs a ton. He wrestles in 
the heavyweight division at the high school.
	"Anyway, after dinner and homework, I went down to the 
basement where Dad's got a home gym set up, and I started lifting 
stuff and pulling stuff. But it all seemed so easy. Then my big 
brother came down to work out and tried to boot me out, so I got 
my Dad. He was glad that I wanted to work out so he goes back down 
with me to show me how to lift weights. See, he's a coach at the 
high school, and I guess I've always been kind of a disappointment 
to him cause I was never interested in sports and stuff like that.
	"So we go back down and he and my brother Jeff are helping 
me. But like I said everything was too easy. And they couldn't 
believe it, but they kept on adding more and more weight. And 
suddenly these cool muscles start growing with like every time I 
lift a weight. Well, real soon, I'm passing up the weights that my 
brother can lift and he starts getting all defensive and angry and 
all.
	"It was right after I had benched 375 pounds that I stood up 
and wanted to compare muscle sizes with him, and you know what he 
does? He gets all red in the face and pushes me so hard that I 
fall over the bench. Well, then I got really mad and jumped at 
him, only I knocked him flat on his butt. He tried really hard to 
get me off of him, even tried some dirty stuff like punching me, 
but I was feeling so strong. I practically manhandled him and in 
no time I had him pinned and begging for mercy. Lucky for him, Dad 
broke us up and sent us to our rooms.
	"So I went there, but I was too excited to sleep. After a 
while I snuck back down to the basement, cause like I said, 
everything seemed so light, I wanted to see what I could really 
do. Pretty soon I was putting all the weights that could fit on 
the bars and I was still lifting it. And my muscles just kept 
right on growing too. I finally maxed out on most of the lifts 
around two this morning, but I still haven't come close to seeing 
how much I can lift with my legs. All the weights we had only 
added up to 1100 pounds."
	Mike was still agog from watching the mighty girl flexing 
her huge muscles when she mentioned her legs. A part of him wished 
that she would drop her baggy sweatpants so he could ogle her 
pillars of power as well. But he shook himself out of that 
fantasy. "So ... so what do you want from me? I mean ... why are 
you telling me all this?"
	"You see, coach," Melinda resumed her calm tone as she 
casually picked up an aluminium softball bat, "while I was laying 
on my bed, I was trying to figure out what was happening. I mean, 
I've never had a muscle in my body that was visible before 
yesterday, and now I look like some superhero cartoon or 
something. And I've got the strength to back it up." She held the 
bat behind her neck and across her shoulders, accentuating her 
magnificent arms. "I was trying to think if anything happened that 
could explain these changes. Then I remembered that weird little 
necklace I found in PE class that I gave to you. And then I 
remembered what you said as I walked past you. Do you remember 
what you said?"
	Mike thought back, frantically trying to remember what was 
said. But as you know, we all say so many things in the course of 
a day that we deem unimportant, that it's hard to remember every 
little comment.
	"Well let me help you. It struck me odd at the time, and I 
guess that's why I remembered it. You said that you wished that 
each of us girls were as strong as the boys and that we could play 
ball as good as they could. And it was just about then that things 
started getting weird. Like we started hitting the ball farther 
than anyone had ever hit it. And like when Zeke ran into Gabby and 
bounced off her like she was made of steel or something. And how 
all of a sudden we were so good at softball and all. And then what 
happened in my basement last night, and my sudden and equally cool 
muscle growth, and it all makes sense, even though it's a crazy 
kind of sense, but the thing is that I think that thingy I found 
and gave you has some kind of magical powers or something. I mean 
how can you explain this?"
	With that she flexed the muscles in her chest and arms, 
pushing against the bat that was still held across her beefy 
shoulders. Every muscle in her upper body swelled with the 
exertion of bone and muscle against aluminum. Her traps rose like 
twin steely anvils, resisting the metal. Slowly the bat began to 
lose the fight as Melinda's arms overpowered the thick metal. Her 
arms and chest were shaking from the strain she was applying, but 
she kept it up until she had re-shaped the bat into a sickle. She 
took the bat off of her shoulders and examined it.
	"Now all I want from you, Coach Green," she said, regaining 
her composure and pointing the bat at the frightened man, "is my 
magic necklace back. I mean, I love your wish and all, but I've 
got a few of my own that I want to wish. So we can do this the 
easy way," she reached out her other hand towards him, "or the 
hard way," she lifted the bat as a obvious sample of what she was 
capable of doing to him if he resisted.
	Mike held his hands out in a defensive gesture, "I ... I 
don't ... I don't have it anymore ... I turned it in to the office 
yesterday ... in ... in the lost and found box. Please," he 
pleaded, nearly crying, "please don't ... don't hurt me!"
	"Hmmmm ... I don't know if I should believe you or not," 
Melinda said as she swung the bat under Mike's face. "Tell you 
what, you stay right here until I can check it out. And give me 
your keys," she commanded as she theateningly pushed the bent bat 
against his chest.
	"My ... my keys?"
	"Just as an insurance policy, coach."
	Mike fumbled in his pockets for his keys, finally producing 
them. He shakily handed them over to his intimidating student.
	"Now you just wait here and I'll be right back. I'm sure you 
can," she gently brushed the end of the bat against Mike's raging 
and quite obvious hard-on, "entertain yourself  while I'm gone." 
With that she pushed the bat back into the bat box and slipped her 
jacket over her still pumped-up upper body. Then she slid 
noiselessly out of the door.
	Mike heard the door being locked and Melinda's footsteps 
disappearing down the hall. Quickly he reached back into his 
pocket and pulled out the necklace that Melinda had found. He 
looked at it, knowing he need to try to use it again, but not sure 
of what he wanted to wish for. His thoughts were clouded by the 
image of Melinda's fantastic muscularity and the prospect of all 
of the girls in that class being just as strong and developed as 
she was.
	He had to admit that it turned him on to think of muscular 
women, although he had never given it much thought before. He felt 
a sort of raw sexual power emanating from the girl as she had 
shown him her body. He struggled to clear his mind and focus his 
thoughts on his next wish.
	Mike's hands began to shake in fear and anticipation. She 
would be returning soon, and probably pissed off that he had lied 
to her. Suddenly the necklace slipped out of his hands, landing in 
the pile of hula-hoops and jump ropes that he was still standing 
in. He dropped to his knees, frantically searching for the 
necklace, hoping that he wouldn't be too late.
	Meanwhile, Melinda had reached the front office and was 
searching for the lost and found box. She stood in front of the 
counter that separated the outer office from the inner office. 
"Excuse me, Ms. Webb?"
	The secretary looked up from her desk, "Good morning, 
Melinda, what can I do for you today?"
	"Umm ... I lost a ... a necklace yesterday? In PE? And Mr. 
Green, the sub? He said that he put it in the lost and found and I 
was wondering if it would be okay to look through the stuff cause 
it's one of my favorite necklaces."
	"Well, sure, sweety, come on around," the kindly secretary 
instructed, "We've got one box under the counter there and another 
in the copy room back there."
	It was all Melinda could do to not tear the box apart 
looking for her magic object. But she forced herself to calmly 
look through the stuff in the box. "Hmmm ... it's not in here, 
I'll try the other room."
	"I hope you find it, sweatheart," Ms. Webb said absently as 
she went focused her attention back to her computer screen.
	As Melinda walked down the long hall to the copy room, she 
bumped into Gabby headed the same way with a stack of papers to 
copy. She grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her into the copy 
room. 
	"What's going on, Mel? What's the rush?" a surprised Gabby 
asked as Melinda shut the door behind them.
	"How are you feeling today? I mean how are you really 
feeling?"
	"Okay, I guess," was Gabby's dumbfounded answer.
	"Just, okay?"
	"Yeah, well maybe pretty good actually," Gabby admitted, 
shrugging her shoulders. "Listen, I've got to get this stuff 
copied for Mejeski's class ..."
	"Wait!" Melinda commanded as she unzipped her jacket, 
"Something weird happened to me yesterday." She let the jacket 
fall, exposing her thick, bulging muscles.
	"Oh god!" Gabby nearly dropped her stack of papers as she 
saw her friend's outrageous body, "Wha ... ? How ...?"
	"I don't know, but I got a hunch that it happened to you 
too, and every girl in PE class." Melinda slid her jacket on once 
more over her big shoulders.
	Gabby looked down at her toned, but relatively skinny arms, 
"I .. I don't think so, Mel ..."
	"No, not the body, the strength! Have you noticed that 
things don't feel heavy today?"
	"Not ... not really," the stunned girl knitted her eyebrows 
in thought, "I mean, I don't think I tried to lift anything that 
was particularly heavy, at least nothing heavier than my backpack, 
and come to think of it, it did seem lighter than usual."
	"Try to lift the copy machine," Melinda ordered her.
	"What? You can't be serious!"
	"Really, here put these papers down," Melinda took the stack 
of papers from her friend, "and lift it."
	Gabby couldn't believe what Melinda was doing, "Okay, okay, 
I'll humor you." She placed her hands on either side of the large 
machine and found something to hold onto. "But I think that you're 
..." with little effort, she straightened up with the machine held 
firmly in her hands and several inches above the floor, " ... cra 
...zy ..?" Astounded by how light the copier felt, she raised it 
even higher. It felt to her like she was lifting nothing heavier 
than an empty cardboard box. She set it down quickly and stepped 
back, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" She turned to her smiling 
friend, "Did I just do that?"
	"You sure did, girlfriend. That's what I was telling you 
about. Some kind of magic happened yesterday. Remember when Zeke 
bounced off of you like he was hitting a brick wall, and we were 
smacking homers like we were pro playeres? It happened then. And 
it was just after I heard the coach wishing that we were stronger 
than the boys. And that was just after I gave him a strange little 
necklace that I found buried in the grass. And that's why I'm in 
here. cause he said he put that thingy in the lost and found. Help 
me look for it." She quickly turned her attention back to her 
search and started rummaging through the boxes stacked in the 
room.
	Gabby quickly got over the shock of discovering that she was 
stronger than any guy in the school, possibly any guy anywhere, 
and aided her friend in her quest. After several frustrating 
minutes, they had gone through every box in the room.
	"Damn!! He must have been lying to me!" Melinda realized. 
"C'mon Gabby!" She grabbed the girl and nearly flew down the hall 
with her. She was headed back to the gym closet where she had left 
her captive coach, hoping that she wouldn't be too late.
	Mike had just spotted a glint of tarnished metal amongst the 
jump ropes when he heard the sound of footseps running down the 
hall. "Oh man, oh man, oh man!" He had just retrieved the wayward 
necklace when he heard Melinda fumbling with the keys. No time to 
get this perfect, he thought to himself, just try it! He stood up 
and whispered to himself, "I wish ... I wish that I was twice as 
strong as Melinda is right now and ... and ..." He hesitated 
thinking of how cool it was that the girls could hold their own 
against the boys. He didn't want them to return to their former 
strength level, but being this as strong as they were now would 
work either, "... and that all of the girls in my PE class would 
only be as strong as ... as ... Zeke Smith! And ... and I wish 
that I was the only one at this school who knew about this magic 
necklace!" 
	He finished his wishes just as he heard the key turning the 
lock. A strange hush fell over the room as everything seemed to go 
in slow motion for a second. Melinda was just about to open the 
door, when she felt a rush of energy leaving her, like the end of 
a fast elevator ride. She held onto the door handle for support as 
she felt the strange sensation wash over her. Gabby, too, was 
feeling it.
	As Melinda swung the door open she was greeted by a flying 
button that bounced off the wall near her head. She looked in the 
direction that it came from and was shocked to see Coach Green 
smiling back at her. But he didn't look like the scared man that 
she had left in the room minutes ago. As a matter of fact, she 
couldn't remember why she had come back to the room or why he was 
scared the last time she had seen him.
	The button that had flown past her had popped off his shirt, 
the shirt that just this morning had fit so loosely and 
comfortably. Now it was stretched tightly across unbelievably huge 
muscles. His thick arms completely filled the sleeves and 
threatened to rip them open. His thighs bulged out of skin-tight 
shorts, showing a size and definition that most men would envy and 
only a few bodybuilders can attain. Melinda didn't remember him 
looking so muscular - so (she couldn't believe she was thinking 
this) sexy!
	He moved incredibly quickly toward the stunned girls, and 
smoothly removed the keys from the lock, "Melinda, Gabby, can I 
help you?" 
	His voice was deeper than Melinda had remembered it. Even 
his voice was sexy! "Ummm ... no ... I don't think so ... I mean, 
I thought I needed to talk to you about something, but I can't 
seem to remember what it was now."
	"Oh," Gabby said as she suddenly remembered something, "I'm 
supposed to be copying some stuff for Mr. Mejeski!" She ran off 
down the    "hall toward the office.
	"Are you okay, Melinda?" Mike asked the befuddled girl.
	"Yeah ... I guess ... I just ... wasn't I just in here 
talking to you, coach?"
	"Yeah, sure," Mike tried to look like he was busy grabbing 
some baskets of balls, "you told me about how you didn't need your 
glasses. Hey, have you been working out, you look pretty buff 
there, young lady."
	"Yeah ... yeah ... oh yeah, that's what I came to tell you. 
I must be going through some kind of weird growth spurt, cause I 
was lifting weights with my dad last night and I couldn't believe 
how fast my muscles were growing, is that possible, Mr Green?"
	"Sure, Melinda, sometimes muscles just seem to pop up out of 
nowhere, especially when you're young," Mike replied. "Well, 
listen, you better get to class, and I've got to get ready for my 
classes."
	"Yeah, thanks, see ya later, coach!" Melinda backed slowly 
out of the room, having a hard time tearing her eyes off her 
awesome looking coach and looking forward to the last period of 
the day.
	Mike smiled as he picked up the bent softball bat. Placing 
it across his stomach, he slowly straightened it out until it was 
nearly back to its original shape. He replaced the bat in the box 
and then easily lifted that box and the other equipment he needed 
for classes that day and strode down the hall toward the boys 
locker room. He enjoyed getting some attention from the girls as 
he walked past them, even a low whistle from a small clutch of 
older girls.
	But actually, Mike Green was a modest man. The extra 
attention was nice, but rather embarrassing. When he got to his 
office in the boys locker room, he searched around for some larger 
shorts or sweatpants. He found a pair of warm-ups that someone on 
the football team had left behind that fit him well. Now if he 
could just concentrate enough during the day and not flex his 
arms, even though he was dying to know how big they were now.
	The rest of the day went without incident, although it 
seemed that all of the girls that were in his classes were by far 
stronger than the majority of the boys. They seemed to hit the 
ball harder and throw farther than any of the boys. This led to 
very unequal teams for most of the day. The disparity of strength 
levels was especially noticable with the seventh graders. About 
lunch time, Mike suddenly realized that he had actually wished 
that all of the girls in his classes, not just the ones in last 
period, had the strength of Zeke. Now he had 13 year old girls 
walking around with the strength of a young man.
	During his lunch hour, Mike retreated to his office. He took 
out the necklace and examined it. It had a small, dull colored 
stone set in the middle, but other than that there was nothing 
special about it. "Dang," Mike mumbled to himself as he looked at 
the trinket, "I wish I knew more about this magic thingy."
	Suddenly the entire world got quiet, or so it seemed to 
Mike. He sat on his chair behind his desk, staring at the wall in 
front of him. But his mind was not seeing what his eyes were 
looking at.
	In Mike's mind a scene was being played out inside of a 
castle with people dressed in medieval clothes. A woman on her 
knees was clutching a chain and necklace while desperately 
chanting words. It was the same necklace that Mike held in his 
hands. Suddenly a large man ran her through with his sword and she 
fell dead on top of the necklace. Mike could see as the woman's 
last breath left her body and swirled into the jewel in the middle 
of the necklace, mixed with her blood. The scene changed swiftly 
and he saw a peasant girl in what looked like the 1700's wearing 
the necklace. She was crying in the woods and wishing she was 
home. Then suddenly she was outside her cottage. Then he saw a 
woman dressed as a dancer in the American West. She also had the 
necklace, and as she wished she were rich enough to buy a piece of 
land, she turned a corner and found a bag full of g   Pold 
nuggets.
	Then there was a young woman sitting on a stool at a drug 
store in the 1950's, playing with the same necklace and chain and 
wishing she were a famous movie star. Mike saw her being 
approached by a man that was offering her a chance for a film 
role. Mike realized that all of these women had unknowingly used 
the magic of the charm. But more importantly, its purpose seemed 
to be to help specifically women. He had seen no men using it. 
Until today.
	And one more thing he realized. Every drop of blood that was 
spilled onto the jewel was another wish granted. And that through 
all of the centuries of magic, there was only one wish left. It 
was his wish to wish. And he knew he better not blow it.




PART 2



The rest of the day went without incident, although it seemed that all of the
girls that were in his classes were by far stronger than the majority of the
boys. They seemed to hit the ball harder and throw farther than any of the
boys. This lead to very unequal teams for most of the day. The disparity of
strength levels was especially noticeable with the seventh graders. About
lunch time, Mike suddenly realized that he had actually wished that all of the
girls in his classes, not just the ones in last period, had the strength of
Zeke. Now he had 13 year old girls walking around with the strength of a young
man.

During his lunch hour, Mike retreated to his office. He took out the necklace
and examined it. It had a small, dull colored stone set in the middle, but
other than that there was nothing special about it. �ang,�Mike mumbled to
himself as he looked at the trinket, � wish I knew more about this magic
thingy.�

Suddenly the entire world got quiet, or so it seemed to Mike. He sat on his
chair behind his desk, staring at the wall in front of him. But his mind was
not seeing what his eyes were looking at.

In Mike� mind a scene was being played out inside of a castle with people
dressed in medieval clothes. A woman on her knees was clutching a chain and
necklace while desperately chanting words. It was the same necklace that Mike
held in his hands. Suddenly a large man ran her through with his sword and she
fell dead on top of the necklace. Mike could see as the woman� last breath
left her body and swirled into the jewel in the middle of the necklace, mixed
with her blood. The scene changed swiftly and he saw a peasant girl in what
looked like the 1700� wearing the necklace. She was crying in the woods and
wishing she was home. Then suddenly she was outside her cottage. Then he saw a
woman dressed as a dancer in the American West. She also had the necklace, and
as she wished she were rich enough to buy a piece of land, she turned a corner
and found a bag full of gold nuggets.

Then there was a young woman sitting on a stool at a drug store in the
1950�, playing with the same necklace and chain and wishing she were a
famous movie star. Mike saw her being approached by a man that was offering
her a chance for a film role. Mike realized that all of these women had
unknowingly used the magic of the charm. But more importantly, its purpose
seemed to be to help specifically women. He had seen no men using it. Until
today.

And one more thing he realized. Every drop of blood that was spilled onto the
jewel was another wish granted. And that through all of the centuries of
magic, there was only one wish left. It was his wish to wish. And he knew he
better not blow it.

Mike grabbed a notepad and a pen. He quickly scribbled his wish without saying
it. He checked it over and scratched out some words. He realized that it had
to be as clear as possible to avoid any problems like what happened to the
girls. Finally, he was satisfied with his wish.

Mike held the pendant in one hand and the notepad in the other. His hands
began to tremble as he silently rehearsed his wish several more times to make
sure that he got all the words right. He cleared his throat and spoke softly,
� wish I had the ability to be able to know what any woman truly desires and
the power to change any woman� attributes and abilities in any way I
want.�

A hush fell over the office. All the noise of a busy junior high faded away
and the the stone on the necklace seemed to glow brighter and brighter. Mike
stared at the light, mesmerized by its brightness. Then the bell rang to
signal the end of lunch and the office returned to its normally dingy state.
Mike shook his head and looked back at the necklace. The stone in it was now a
dull, lifeless red, and suddenly as cold as a piece of ice.

The door to the locker room burst open as several boys entered to get ready
for class. Startled, Mike jumped up from his chair and shoved the necklace
back into his pocket. �ll right boys,�he boomed as he opened the office
door, �et� get moving ... no screwing around.�That was his usual
greeting to them as they filed into the locker room. But now with his added
size and strength, his voice filled the locker room, bouncing around it�
concrete walls.

Mike walked through the locker room with a presence and authority that stopped
some of the boys in their tracks. Some were wondering if this was the same sub
that they had the day before, others merely averted their eyes and quickly
went about dressing down. Mike made sure that everyone was busy getting ready
for class, then he instructed some of the boys to grab the equipment and he
headed outside to prepare for roll call.

As he stood outside, he saw Jenny Osbourne, the girls�PE teacher emerge from
the women� side of the building. Jenny was all business. She had been a PE
teacher for twenty years, and although she was still in almost as good of
shape as she was in college, the years had taken a toll on her outlook on
teaching, students, and life in general. Mike thought that she might be a nice
person under her gruff exterior. He hoped that he didn� get so disillusioned
by teaching, but he realized that it could happen to the best of teachers.

Still, he thought, I wish that she had a more positive outlook on life and
teaching. It would go a long way to making PE a fun class. Suddenly, the whole
area seemed unusually hushed and time seemed to slow down.

Oh crap, Mike thought as he was beginning to recognize the tell-tale signs of
a wish being granted, I�e got to be more careful in the future!

Jenny looked up and caught Mike� eye as a wide smile spread across her face,
�ey Mike! How� it going? Isn� this just the most beautiful day? God, I
love teaching outside in the springtime!�

Several students came up carrying equipment, Ms. Osbourne sent them out to the
field. �ay, Mike,�she continued, �sn� this your last day at our
school? Where are you off to next? It sure has been great to have you filling
in these last two weeks.�

�h, I don� know, I�e got a few assignments scheduled over the next
couple of weeks. But you know, something usually comes up.�

�ell good luck. I can see by the way you handle the kids that you�l be a
great teacher.�She smiled and gave him a pat on his big shoulder as she
headed out to organize her students.

Boy, that was close, he thought as he watched the woman walk away with a
noticeable spring in her step. What if I had wished for something ... he
stopped himself before he accidentally altered Jenny again.

Still, he thought, maybe I should just test this out a little more. Just to
get the hang of it. He concentrated on Jenny, picturing her smiling face in
his mind and suddenly he was filled with a longing for speed. Mike realized
that he was tapping into her unspoken desires. He was receiving images of
sprinters racing in track meets, their thighs bursting with power as they
pushed�themselves to be the fastest in the world. Shoulders and arms
developed into finely tuned pistons working in symphony with their amazing
lower bodies. And one recurring image of Carl Lewis, certainly not the fastest
man alive today, but in his prime, and in Jenny� prime, he was the ultimate
track athlete.

Okay, thought Mike, maybe just a little bit of a wish to try this out. He
whispered to himself, so he could be sure of what he wished for. � wish that
Jenny Osbourne who teaches PE at this school would have the strength, speed
and agility of Carl Lewis, the Olympic track athlete, while he was still in
his prime.�He was trying hard to be as specific as he could be so nothing
could go wrong. He continued to watch Jenny as she joined the class.

Suddenly he could feel that odd quiet fall over the field and things seemed to
move in slow motion for a second. Mike� eyes widened in shock as he saw the
shoulders of Jenny� shirt stretch slightly outward. If the change was
visible from his distance, then that would mean ...

Jenny shook her head a little and raised a hand to brush back her hair. Mike
gulped as he saw a sprinter� arm reach up and a big bicep bulged out on top.
His eyes moved down in time to watch her forty-something butt slowly tighten
into hard balls of strong muscle. Her thighs began to flare out and with each
step became larger and larger until they could easily be seen from the rear.
Even her pace changed to that of a confident world class athlete.

Suddenly, she grabbed the equipment bag out of the hand of the boy who was
carrying it. ��on slow poke,�she said as she swung it over her shoulder,
��l race you to the field!�

The boy and some of his friends took off running after their teacher. But for
all their youth and strength, they were no match for Jenny, even though she
was carrying a bulky bag full of equipment. She easily outran them, pulling
away in the last 50 yards by so much that she spun around and ran the last few
feet backwards and it still took them several seconds to catch up.

Damn it! Mike thought to himself. I had better be even more careful in the
future. This could have been really bad. Someone could suspect that something
weird was going on.

The rest of the day went as it usually does. No surprises. Except that, when
it came to choosing teams this day, the boys all wanted to have some of the
girls on their team. Especially Gabby and Melinda. Gabby was always recognized
as a �emjock�so she was of course picked first of the girls.

But Melinda had finally come dressed in shorts and a t-shirt instead of sweats
for the first time all year. You could almost hear a collective �ulp�come
from the boys in class when she was showing off her new bulging biceps to some
of the girls. Several of them nervously tried to shift their shorts around to
avoid embarrassment, then quickly turned their attention to something less
scintillating.

By the end of the day, Mike was ready for some time off. He dropped off the
keys he had been given at the beginning of the week, signed some paperwork,
and headed for home.

As he drove home, he reviewed his upcoming weekend. Nothing. No homework, no
papers to grade, no housework to do. But then again, no dates, no girls to
look up. Nothing to look forward to. Maybe he would grab some pub grub at the
local watering hole. Even that didn� sound very appealing - trolling for
girls at a bar.

Finally he decided to stop by the local sports store to buy some clothes that
might fit more comfortably and then head over to a gym in a neighboring town.
It was a small place, not like his mega-gym that his parents had given him a
membership for. And on a Friday night, there probably wouldn� be too many
people there. What he wanted was a little privacy to test out his new
strength. To see how strong he really was.

After reluctantly spending nearly two days pay on some new clothes, Mike found
his way to the gym. The place was perfect, and nearly empty. There were stacks
of weight plates all over. This looked like a hard-core powerlifter� gym. A
huge man was doing the snatch and jerk over in one corner and another was
getting ready to bench a bar with lots of big plates on it. There were a
couple of women there, too. They were working out with partners and all had
the solid look of a powerlifter.

Mike paid his money and was told that the gym would be closing in an hour and
a half. He thanked the man and went to go find some secluded spot to try some
lifts. He knew that his original wish had given Melinda and Gabby and all the
rest of the girls in his last class the strength of about fifteen 14 year old
boys. And he had wished to have twice the strength of Melinda. That would put
him at a strength level of 30 boys. Even so, each boy could easily curl a 15
pound dumbbell at least once. So he should be able to curl at least 450 pounds
with one hand.

Mike quietly collected several large plates, placing them on either side of a
thick bar that was resting on a bench press rack. He stepped up to the bar and
found the center with his right hand. If he was going to do this without
attracting attention, he would have to keep it balanced and do it quickly. He
glanced around once more to see if anyone was watching him. Everyone seemed
involved with their own workout. He tightened his gri p on the bar and
prepared to lift.

�ey there!�Mike heard a voice coming from behind him. He was so startled
that he almost jumped in the air. �h, sorry. I didn� mean to scare you.�

Mike spun around to see a small woman standing behind him. He thought she
looked familiar, but wasn� sure. She was dressed in a tank top and
sweatpants. Her straight brown hair was tied back in a ponytail that reached
to her shoulder blades.

�h,�he started, �m... no. No, I� okay,�he lied as he tried to
conceal his surprise.

The small woman extended her hand, �� Ashley Scott. You�e Mike Green,
right? I teach math at Riverside Middle School. I met you in the
teachers�room while you were subbing there.�

Mike took Ashley� hand trying desperately to remember her. But she was one
of those sort of really unremarkable personalities that are hard to
distinguish in a crowded faculty room at a large middle school. Even her
physical presence was altogether rather plain. �h, sure. Ashley. You teach
Algebra, right?�

�o, just general math for the 7th graders.�She smiled as if she were a
little embarrassed. �nd ... and a couple of periods of pre-Algebra.�

�h, sure.�Mike paused not sure of what to say. He looked around and
noticed that Ashley was the smallest person in the place. In fact, she was so
unlike the other customers that she sort of stood out now. But not in a good
way.

�o,�Ashley tried to change the subject, � haven� seen you in here
before, are you joining the gym?�

�h,�Mike wasn� sure how to explain what he was doing, �ell, I was
"just checking things out here. I don� work out much and I was just seeing
how things ... were ... here.�God, he sounded so dumb, but he didn� know
what else to say.

�eally? You don� work out? I thought you might be a bodybuilder or
something. I mean, I never noticed before at school but you�e pretty big,
like you�e been at this for quite some time.�

�ell, yeah, I guess I have done a little bit of lifting.�

�sn� that just how it works,�Ashley said as she placed her hands on her
hips, ��e been busting my butt for years here and what do I have to show
for it? I� still trying to bench press just an olympic bar for more than
eight reps. And you put on muscle just picking up a weight. God, I wish I had
your secret or your genetics or whatever it is you�e got.�

Almost without realizing it, Mike had begun to probe Ashley� mind to see
what it was that she really desired. He saw images of a strong, assertive
woman, comfortable in any situation, not intimidated by men. She wanted to be
full bodied, but not overly muscular. The kind of physique that would earn her
the respect of her junior high students, but not put them off as freakish.
Suddenly Mike hit upon an idea.

�soplyotonics,�he said abruptly.

�� sorry? Iso what?

�soplyotonics,�Mike whispered with a look around the gym to see if anyone
was listening or watching. Of course no one was, they were all too concerned
with their own workouts. �t� kind of a cross between isometrics and
weightlifting. That�my secret.�

�eally? How does this work? Will it work on me?�

Mike grabbed a thin steel bar that weighed about 15 pounds. �et� find
out,�he said as he handed the bar to her and smiled, �he secret of
isoplyotonics is to stress the muscles without using a lot of weight and with
a small amount of movement. Here, just do these exercises exactly as I tell
you to.�

Ashley took the bar in her hands. This wasn� a particularly light weight for
her and she adjusted her grip until she held it firmly.

�kay,�Mike continued, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking
about, �irst cross your legs at the ankles and bend over at the waist until
your upper body is parallel to the floor. Now the first move�is to slowly
curl the bar to your chest. Concentrate on your biceps. The secret is to keep
the target muscles as tense as possible through the whole movement.�

Ashley obeyed and slowly raised the bar to her chest.

�ext, lower the bar and switch to an overhand grip, then pull it up once
more like you�e rowing a boat. This time concentrate on your back
muscles.�Again, Ashley did the movement as Mike described it.

�kay, now straighten up and bring the bar up to your shoulders. Do you feel
the difference in doing it tensed and not tensed?�

�eah, I think I� getting it,�Ashley replied with a pleased smile.

�ood, now here comes a three part move. Squat down as far as you can
comfortably go, focus on your legs and slowly rise up. When you�e all the
way up, shift your focus to your shoulders and push the bar up as high as you
can. Then lift yourself up onto your toes and squeeze your calves.�

Ashley did as Mike said. She was a bit wobbly on the ascent and the bar was
almost too heavy for her to hold over her head, but she completed the
movement.

�ood. Now relax and sit down on the nearest bench and rest the bar on your
knees. Then lay down and lift the bar overhead with your hands close together.
Lower the bar until it touches the bench above your head and press it back
up...�

� should be tightening my triceps, right?�

Mike smiled at how quickly she was catching on. �ight, this is for the
triceps. Then spread your hands out until they are shoulder width apart and
lower the bar to your chest for the bench press. And that� the whole
workout.�Ashley was already doing the movement even as Mike described it.

The young math teacher sat up amazed. �hat� it? That� how you got so
big?�

�ell, you don� need to kill yourself to build muscle. But remember, you
need to do this three times a week. So try it once more while I watch you to
see if you�e got it.�

Mike had been quickly rehearsing his wish so that he wouldn� blow it. He
thought to himself, I wish that Ashley Scott would increase her strength by a
factor of 1.5 every time she does these exercises with a bar similar to this
one for the next two weeks and that her body will grow more muscular over the
next two weeks until she reaches the level of development that Melinda has and
that her breasts will grow slowly over that time into perfectly shaped C-cup
size breasts. He had decided not to go for the usual wish of doubling her
strength each day because it begins to get out of hand rather quickly. He f

igured a slow steady increase like this would be best. By the time two weeks
was up, she would be really strong for a woman, but not even close to some of
the strongest women in the world. He also threw in a quick wish that she would
adjust to her new strength level immediately. That way she wouldn� break
anything or hurt anyone accidentally.

Ashley performed the routine just as Mike had given it to her. When she was
done, Mike took the bar from her hands.

�o, how do you feel?�

Ashley looked very surprised, � feel fantastic! That� got to be the best
workout I�e ever had! I don� feel tired or exhausted, in fact I feel
refreshed and strong!�

�reat,�Mike congratulated her (and himself on his brilliant plan), �ust
remember to use an empty bar and tense the ta

rget muscles. Hey! You look like you may have put on a little muscle even
tonight.�

Ashley held up an arm and flexed it. The tiniest little bicep pushed up from
her formerly thin arm. She probed it happily with her other hand, �eah! And
it feels a lot more solid already. Thanks, Mike! Hey can I buy you a fruit
smoothie or something?�Not only was he friendly and helpful, he was a real
hunk, too. She thought to herself that it might be nice to get to know him a
little better. It might even lead to going on a real date for the first time
in a year.

�h ...�Mike hesitated. He really wanted to get back to seeing how much he
could lift.

�h, um,�now Ashley was embarrassed for being so forward, �f you�e got
something else going on ...�

�o! No, that� be great, it�s just that ... well ... I wanted to get in a
couple of reps on the bench press tonight.�

�ell, I was going to shower and change clothes,�Ashley suggested, �aybe
we could meet in the lobby in like 20 minutes?�

Mike smiled broadly, �eah, okay, okay. I meet you in 20. In the lobby.�

Ashley waved as she retreated to the locker room. When Mike was sure that she
was gone, he settled himself under the bar for a bench press. Lifting the
weight was effortless, as was pressing it three times, but he didn� want to
attract undue attention.

Then he rose from the bench and walked behind it. Checking once more to see if
anyone was watching, he quickly grabbed the bar with one hand and lifted it
from the rack. As he suspected, he lifted it without much effort and quickly
did two single hand bicep curls. Satisfied that his calculations were at least
close, he racked the bar and removed the plates. He wanted to get out of the
gym before anyone else could approach him.

Mike and Ashley met as planned and enjoyed the smoothies and each other�
company. When they parted for the night, Mike told her that he was going to be
in another town for another long term sub job but that he wanted to get
together in two weeks to check on her progress. He set up a time to meet at
the gym and then go out for dinner. Ashley fairly floated home, excited at the
prospect of spending time with a man - a handsome, hunky one at that - on a
real date. Now if only she could remember all of those moves he taught her.

The next two weeks seemed to fly by for Mike. He was teaching at an elementary
school (fourth grade) in a town about an hour� drive away. The long commute
combined with trying to keep up with the energetic students left him exhausted
at the end of the day, even with his enhanced strength. He would often wonder
how those older ladies that did this year after year could keep it up!

So Mike didn� get out much and even had to spend most of the weekend grading
papers and making plans. For the most part, this kept him from trying out his
new powers. He did have a couple of occasions for helping some women, though.

One day, an older female teacher was complaining about how brittle her bones
were becoming. Mike found himself focusing on her bone structure when suddenly
he was having a �ind tour�through the skeletal system: how bones are built
and strengthened and how years of losing calcium leads eventually to
osteoporosis. He wished that her bone strength would be the equal to what it
had been when she was in her twenties. Immediately the woman began to look
more comfortable and relaxed. Her whole attitude changed. Mike noticed that
she was kinder to her students and smiled a lot more.

Another woman, the secretary at the school, was talking about how she wished
she had stronger fingernails. So Mike wished for her to grow fingernails that
were tough enough to turn screws. She came to love her nails and found that
she needed extra strong clippers to trim them.

But all in all, Mike was rather disappointed in the the mundane wishes of
these women. He could have turned them into geniuses, or opera stars, or
athletes. But he had promised himself that he wouldn� use his power to
change women unless they actually wished it themselves and he was going to
stick with that promise.

So it was with great anticipation that Mike pulled into the parking lot of the
gym where he and Ashley had agreed to meet after the two weeks were up. Here
at least was a woman that really was striving to better herself and he was
glad that he might be able to help her.

Mike scanned the sparsely populated gym and found Ashley in the same place
that he had demonstrated his �soplyotonics�method. He had instantly
regretted making up such a silly sounding name, but it was the best he could
come up with on the spot.

Ashley was performing the exercise exactly as Mike had shown her and was just
completing it when he walked up. She was dressed in some sort of exercise
pants that were tight at the waist but were loose around the legs to offer
plenty of comfortable movement. she had on a top that looked to be two or
three sizes too big with sleeves that went down to her elbows. So If Mike was
hoping to see the improvements in her physique, it would have to wait for
another time.

Ashley saw Mike as he approached and turned her head to smile at him while she
finished her last movement. Mike was caught off guard by the intense radiance
of her smile. Her face practically glowed with health and beauty. He blinked
twice and could barely stammer out his greeting.

� ... hey Ashley,�Mike stuttered with a goofy smile on his face, �ow ...
how� it going?�

Ashley set the bar down gently and pulled her long brown hair back over her
ears. Mike was hoping to catch a glimpse of her arms as she tied her hair back
with a rubber band, but the long sleeves stayed up blocking the view. Mike did
notice that her hair that was straight and rather mousey looking before had
taken on a new fullness and radiance.

�i Mike! Right on time,�Ashley cheerily greeted the large man. � just
finished up here. Give me a minute to freshen up. I�l meet you at the front
desk.�With that she disappeared into the locker room.

Mike didn� have to wait long at the counter. Ashley was ready to go in about
ten minutes. She had changed into a light summer top with shorter sleeves and
a nice pair of walking shorts. Mike didn� have to wait any longer to find
out if Ashley� physique had improved. It was quite obvious. Her arms looked
thick and defined with a visible separation at the bottom of the shoulders and
between the biceps and triceps. Her quads bunched powerfully as she approached
him and her calves swelled enough with each step to be visible from the front.

�ow!�Mike said as she stepped up to him. Even some of the old hardcore
lifters in the gym seemed to be watching her out of the corner of their eye.
�ou ... you look terrific! I guess my program really worked for you, eh?�

�id it work? Check it out!�Ashley held her arms out, inviting Mike�
inspection, and turned around. When she came back facing her friend, she
raised one arm and flexed her bicep. A big, rock hard muscle popped up out of
her formerly skinny arm. � never thought I could look like this, it� like
magic or something,�she gushed. �our isoplyotonics is really great!�She
hooked one arm around Mike� thick bicep and began to lead him to the door,
��on handsome, dinner� on me tonight.�

Ashley treated Mike to dinner at an all you can eat place down the street from
her apartment. Mike was impressed by how much food she seemed to be able to
put away, but then again, he was eating quite a bit as well. After both were
stuffed, Ashley suggested a stroll around the neighborhood to walk off the
dinner.

The two teachers were again having a wonderful time catching up on the things
that had happened over the last two weeks and how they were preparing for the
summer break and what plans they had for summer activities. Suddenly, Mike
noticed a little girl with her arm seemingly stuck in a drainage grate next to
a curb. She seemed to be reaching for something and had gotten stuck.

Just then a delivery truck pulled to a stop up the street. The delivery guy
hopped out anxious to get his last delivery done after a long day. The
truck� brake was not completely engaged and the large van began slowly
rolling toward the unsuspecting girl.

�h my god!�Mike yelled as he bolted toward the girl. He thought he might
be able to hold back the van while Ashley freed the girl� arm, but how would
he explain his super strength? So he went for the girl, hoping to pull her to
safety, even if it meant lifting the heavy grate with her.

He had just lifted the girl and the grate when he looked back at the van to
see how close it was and to see where Ashley had gone. Ashley was standing
holding the van above her head with both hands.

Mike eyes were wide as saucers. He was speechless.

Suddenly he remembered the little girl in his hands and set her gently down on
the sidewalk and just as gently removed her arm and the little red ball she
was clutching by slightly pulling the grate apart.

�hanks mister,�the little girl said as she skipped home, never looking up
at the sight of the woman hefting a truck over her head.

Mike spun back to face Ashley. �ha ...? How ...?�was all he could muster
in his shock.

�ike, please, don� say anything, don� even think anything, just listen
to me,�Ashley pleaded with him. �romise?�

Mike could only shake his head in agreement.

�kay, first of all,�Ashley calmly began, �owever wild it may seem, I
know that all these changes to my body and all has something to do with magic,
and I suspect that it was a result of some kind of magical wish or something
that you wished or did or whatever and if you take it back right now, this van
will crush me and I don� want that to happen and I hope that you don�
either, right?�

Mike nodded his head to indicate that he didn� want her to be crushed by the
van suspended over her.

�ou see, I snuck a peek at you two weeks ago after I left you and saw you
lift that 450 pound barbell - I� a math teacher after all and I can add
these things in my head really quickly - and I knew that no one could actually
lift that much with one hand. But then when I went back to the gym like you
said and did your �rogram�I couldn� believe the results I was getting
but I kept going like you said, Sunday, and Tuesday, and Thursday. But then I
picked up a real dumbbell just to see how much stronger I was getting and I
started curling 50 pound dumbbells like they were my usual 15 pounders. So I
started going every day and doing the same exercise and my strength kept
jumping up and up and my body wasn� growing as much as my strength was and
then I finally recognized the pattern. I am a math teacher after all and I
love to look for patterns in numbers. I came to the conclusion that you were
somehow increasing my strength about one and a half times each time I did your
program, right?�

This time Mike didn� n�d, but he chanced a question, �veryday? How many
times did you do my ... my �rogram?�

Ashley looked down and shyly replied, �ell, once a day for a few days and
then twice a day ... and then three times yesterday and three more
today.�She shifted the ponderous load to one hand and calculated on her
other fingers, �bout twenty times I guess counting the first night.�

Mike� eyes opened wide again as he watched her balance the van on one hand,
�y god, Ashley, how strong are you?�

� ... I guess about two thousand times stronger than before.�She pressed
the van up and down several times for effect. �his truck must weigh about
8,000 pounds but it feels like a little 5 pound weight now.�

�he point is, Mike, I love this body you gave me and I love being this
strong. Okay, maybe I overdid it a little on the strength thing, but I love
being strong for the first time in my life. And I know you�e a good guy and
I hope that I can convince you �o not change me back without talking about
it first. Okay?�

Mike nodded slowly.

�romise?�

� promise, Ashley. Now can you put that thing down before someone sees
us?�

It was highly improbable, but they really had not been noticed by any of the
neighbors. Ashley had a little shocked look on her face as she suddenly
realized what she was doing and set the truck down, but sideways so it
couldn� roll away. She dusted off her hands and stepped over to where Mike
was replacing the sewer grating. Just then, the driver emerged from the
building and stopped in his tracks. How had someone managed to move his truck
ninety degrees? And how long was it going to take to get out of this narrow
street. He looked up at the two very strong looking young people and motioned
to his van.

�ey, did you guys do this?�he asked with a touch of anger in his voice.

�eah, sure buddy,�Mike replied, �e just picked up you truck and turned
it sideways like it was a paperweight. Maybe you forgot to set your brake and
it rolled into that position.�With that the two continued their walk.

Ashley once more linked her arm around Mike�, �hank you, Mike,�she
whispered as they walked along. �o, what exactly is going on here?�

Mike felt relieved that he could finally tell the whole story to someone. He
told her of the necklace that he was given to hold and his first wish that
almost turned into a disaster and then his second wish that gave him his
power. Then he told her of his following wishes and how something always seems
to go wrong with them. � can hardly believe it myself, but that what really
happened and now I don� know what to do.

They had reached Ashley� apartment and she motioned with her head, ��on
inside. I�e got a couple of ideas.�

Mike wasn� about to resist and invitation from a woman that could win a tug
of war single handed against the whole student body of his college. And such a
cute one at that. He followed her in.

�kay,�Ashley said as she locked the doors and closed the blinds for
privacy, ��e been giving this some thought these last few days. After I
figured out that some kind of magic was involved. Here� my proposal: It
struck me that a super powered woman could do a lot of good in this world.
Floods, hurricanes, wars, terrorists. You have the power to create such a
woman and I would like to volunteer.�

Mike looked troubled and not quite sure of her idea. Plus he had seen how even
some of his best intentions went awry when he made his wishes.

�ow, I realize that I would have to make a living somehow and I think that
my teaching job would be just the thing. With breaks during the day and days
off at holidays and summers, I could do quite a bit of superheroing. Of course
I couldn� look like this,�Ashley motioned to her body, �ut I have to say
that I really like the physique you wished up for me.�

She walked over to a desk and picked up some pictures that she had printed off
from her computer. �hese girls look like the kind of super heroine that
people would expect, I would guess.�

Mike looked at the pictures. Ashley had found some supergirl sites with blond
haired models with supergirl like outfits on. Most had been enhanced quite a
bit, not their muscles, just their breasts.

�ou see, Mike, I actually think my current body looks better than those
enhanced ones. I really don� see what men find attractive about their
figures - except, you know, their big boobs.�She held her hands up, fingers
spread wide in front of her chest. � would prefer to look like me.�She
flexed her arm and smiled again at her big bicep. �o that would insure that
I would change back to my everyday personna and not get caught up in the
supergirl thing. And you can power down this body, if you really think you
need to. I would ask you to leave me with some of my new strength.�

�o what do you think?�Ashley ended her fast-paced sales pitch and stood
there smiling at Mike.

Mike plopped down on a chair at her kitchen table. He stared at the pictures
in his hand and then off into space. Space! My god, he thought, he could give
her the power to fly off into space like Superman in the comics, lift a
skyscraper with a single hand, change the course of mighty rivers, change the
course of humanity! But what if he screwed up again?

Mike looked back at Ashley� face, lit up by her most gorgeous smile.
�kay,�he shrugged. �et� give a shot. But first, give me apiece of
paper and a pencil.

Ashley practically jumped across the room and hugged Mike as gently as she
could. Still he had a tough time catching a breath. Then he settled down to
write out his wish so that nothing - okay maybe as �ittle as possible�-
could go wrong.

Mike and Ashley worked out the details of the wish over the next thirty
minutes until both were fairly satisfied. Ashley nervously stepped back into
the middle of the room. Mike cleared his throat and began his wish.

� wish that Ashley Scott, who is standing before me now, will be as strong
as I am right now but will be able to increase, maintain, or decrease her
strength and physique as any normal human could. And I wish that she will be
able to magically change her appearance and powers by saying the words � am
Superwoman�which will cause her physique to resemble that of this woman in
this picture - except with slightly larger breasts (at that Ashley� eyes
widened and she began to scold Mike, but he held up a hand to keep her from
messing up the wish) - and will grant her all of the powers of Superman, that
have been chronicled in the comic books. And I wish that when she says those
words, her clothes will magically change from whatever she is wearing to the
costume that she has designed. I wish that these changes will remain until
such time as she says � am Ashley Scott,�whereupon she will return to the
physique, powers, and clothing she had before.�

Finally Mike was finished with his wishes. A strange silence seemed to
envelope the entire room. Ashley felt a sudden drop in her strength, like she
was riding a fast moving freight elevator from the top floor of a building to
the basement.

�s that it?�Ashley asked.

�ep. That� it.�

�� still strong?�

�et� see.��ike sat down at the kitchen table and presented his hand in
an invitation to Ashley to arm wrestle him. She smiled and took a seat
opposite him. They locked hands and she began to push at the same time that he
did. Mike� arms swelled hugely in response to the challenge the small woman
was giving him, but he couldn� budge her. On the other side, ashley was
putting everything she had into the contest and was barely able to keep their
hands at the middle point. Moments before, she could have taken on a whole
squad of guys like Mike and wiped the floor with them. But still she was
pleased with the draw. Maybe his wishes really did work.

�kay,�Mike said, finally breaking off the game. �ime to see what else
you got.�

Ashley smiled shyly again and rose. �kay. Here goes.�She squared her
shoulders and took a deep breath.

� am Superwoman.�

Mike watched in awe as Ashley� body seemed to lengthen. Her wavy brown hair
began to straighten and turn �o a dazzling blond with short bangs above her
eyes. Her chin squared slightly and her nose turned up a little. Her muscular
shoulders and arms seemed to compress from bodybuilder size to fitness
competitor size while her clothes morphed into a superhero costume. Her
breasts pushed out on the front of the uniform and then pushed a little bit
more, showing more cleavage than Ashley had anticipated, but also accentuating
even more the dramatic difference between her huge boobs and her now waspish,
steel hard, waist. Her hips, full and muscular, led to long sexy legs that
were covered only by red calf-high boots.

�h ... my ... god..dess ...�Mike was nearly speechless.

Ashley produced a red cape from a small pocket in her red �aisy Duke�short
shorts. Mike wondered where that had come from, but then remembered that she
had designed this costume herself. She drew the cape across her slender
shoulders and somehow fastened it to her blue top. The top itself looked like
one from an old Supergirl comic with a little Superman emblem over the left
breast and the neckline cut low.

Super Ashley stepped boldly to a full length mirror to examine her new body.
She seemed pleased, but then a dark look crossed her beautiful face.

� don� seem to be able to use any of my powers.�

Mike thought quickly. He realized that he had wished for her to receive the
powers but hadn� wished that she would know how to use them. He also
realized something else.

� think I can fix that,�Mike said. � wish that Ashley Scott will know
how to use all of her powers that she receives when she says, � am
Superwoman�and that she will never knowingly or accidentally cause me any
harm or injury in any way.�

Again, the strange silence filled the room. Immediately afterward, Superwoman
was using her x-ray vision and her microscopic vision. She was listening in on
conversations miles away and staring off into space at distant planets and
solar systems. Then in a flash of red and blue, she was gone.

Moments later, she back, hovering in front of Mike. � just flew to the North
Pole! It was fantastic!�Then she lifted the big man gently to her lips and
kissed him.

Mike head was spinning from the effects of her super sexiness and her super
kiss.

�ow can I ever thank you Mike? Wait, I know.�In a blur of super speed,
Ashley had carried him into her bedroom, undressed him, and laid him in the
bed. Then she very suggestively began to remove her boots and cape. She was
about to strip her top off when she stopped, staring at the wall behind the
bed.

�on� move, Mike, I�l be back in just a minute.�Again Superwoman
disappeared in a blur.

This gave Mike a few seconds to gather his wits. She was moving so fast. And
he wasn� sure he was ready for this.

Moments later, Superwoman was again standing by the bed.

�here ... where did you go?�

� saw that delivery truck starting to roll again. So I thought I would each
that man a lesson. I picked up the van when he got inside. I couldn� believe
how light it was. I mean I was strong before, but now! Wow! I could have
launched that van into orbit without even trying.�

�ou didn� ...did you?�Mike was hoping that he had guessed right that
Ashley was a deeply moral person.

�h no, that would have killed the poor man. I just threw him and his van a
couple of miles straight up and then caught him on the way down. And I gave
him a stern talking to about safety while we floated slowly back to earth. And
now, as for you Mr. Green ...�Superwoman once more began to strip off her
clothes.

�ait! Ummm, �uperwoman,�you are incredibly beautiful and very,�Mike
glanced down at his hard and throbbing member, �ery sexy. But to tell you
the truth ... I was kind of ... I was hoping that ... well, I really kind of
would rather be with Ashley right now.�

Superwoman looked down at the handsome man laying naked in her bed. Mike
wasn� sure if she would leave or try to fry him with her heat vision. But
she simply smiled and said, �hank you, Mike.�

Then Superwoman struck an heroic pose and said, � am Ashley Scott.�

Again, Mike got to watch the amazing transformation. This time from the
Superwoman that the world would soon come to know and love to the math teacher
that Mike had begun to fall in love with. While he watched, he pulled his
pants and shirt back on. He was after all, a modest man and although someday
he would like to explore a physical relationship with Ashley, he felt he
really should get to know her better.

Ashley opened her eyes and surveyed the room from a lower vantage point. She
was back to her old - new self again. �h Mike,�she gasped as she saw him
dressing himself, �� so sorry. I guess I got a little carried away. I just
naturally assumed that ... uh ... you know ... but I guess that ... um ...
well, sorry.�

�hat� okay ... really very generous.�Mike fumbled around for a proper
exit strategy. Finally he just shrugged and said, �ell, I better be going.
Listen, I� love to see you again if you�e available.�

�eah, sure. How about tomorrow night?�Ashley suggested. She really wanted
to pursue this relationship as much as he did. �ow about I pick you up at
8?�

Mike hesitated, �n a car ... or ....�He made a little flying gesture.

� promise I won� invite her along,�Ashley said smiling. Then she flexed
her arm again, much to Mike� pleasure, �esides, I figure that plain old
Ashley Scott can handle any problem we might encounter at the movie
theater.�

�ounds great. Here� my address.�Mike scribbled his address down an a
piece of paper and then gave Ashley a friendly hug that she held onto a little
bit longer.

�hank you so much,�the shorter woman said as she separated slightly from
the massive man and looked up into his eyes. Then she gave him a little kiss
on the cheek.

Mike blushed from the hug and the kiss. �ee you tomorrow. Take care of
yourself.�With that, he slipped quietly out the door.

Ashley leaned against her door as it closed and wrapped her arms around
herself, reliving all of the fantastic events of the evening. The impossible
dream of a child who would immerse herself in comics every chance she could
get had come true. � am Superwoman!�

The End.