The Wish, Part One

[alexcalibur]

The Wish, Part One: Adrian


When he was younger, Adrian had been taught by his friends and parents to stay well away from the strange woman who lived outside his small town in Vermont. His friends said she was a witch; his parents dismissed all conversation about her with strange sharpness, but lectured him endlessly about leaving her alone and staying off her property. The local kids had made a sort of cruel game out of harassing the poor woman and sneaking up to her house, hoping to catch some fleeting glimpse of her. Over the years he had heard all the stories from his friends about the things they’d managed to see while on one of their night-time expeditions, but the older he got the less he believed anything they told him. And by the time he was a junior in high school he had pegged all the “magic” and “strange things” his friends had reported to the silly imaginings of children overtaken by some local rumors.

He had never been to visit Ariadne though. That was her name: Ariadne. He had always wanted to sneak out with his friends under the cover of the night and see if any of the stories were true, but something had stopped him every time. Perhaps it was his parents’ uneasiness discussing her, he wasn’t quite sure, but now he was on his way back home and had in his mind only one thing: “I have to see Ariadne.”

Adrian had always been very handsome: tall with porcelain skin, light brown eyes, almost the colour of honey, and sandy hair. He was poetic and graceful, and confident because of his looks. He spoke softly and carried with him an air of refined elegance. As he got older his face changed and developed strong cheekbones and a beautiful jawline, but he inevitably faced the insecurities of the teenaged. He was one of those boys who was undeniably beautiful, but in a feminine way. He didn’t develop the thick, muscled body his friends did as they got older. His voice always remained soft and clear, never deep and masculine. He was hairless, except for a small patch of light brown in the center of his chest that worked its way down, disappearing above his navel. Where his friends legs thickened, arms banded with muscle, and backs broadened into the characteristic V shape that marked late adolescence, Adrian remained tall and thin as a willow branch (a description his mother used very often). And as he entered high school, and had to share the locker room with his classmates after PE, his insecurities only sharpened. He hated watching as, year after year, his friends became muscular and developed body hair and larger endowments. Adrian began to hate his slim body and small penis more with every passing school year. He had many friends as he was a handsome, intelligent and likeable guy, but he was always treated as the softer, most feminine one in his group of male friends.

Adrian was not a superstitious person, but after going to college his insecurities about his body became worse, and now he was driving home to stupidly see a woman his childhood friends had insisted was a witch. He felt like a complete fool, but his obsession with becoming more masculine had taken over his life. It was all he thought about. He had gone to the gym, bought books about weight training and nutrition, read endless articles on various fitness and bodybuilding websites, and became a veritable expert on supplements. However none of it had worked, and, driving home now, Adrian looked at the handsome face with its light skin, high cheekbones and defined jaw, and grimaced to think that it was attached to such a feminine body as his.

He was tired of being called a “pretty boy,” tired of women treating him like some desexualized eunuch who was only sort of a guy. He wanted them to want him. To feel physical reactions to his presence, not a mere acknowledgement of his beautiful face. He wanted to see the blood rush into their cheeks as he entered a room, and for them to swoon when he spoke to them in his deep, baritone voice. For the outlines of his muscular body beneath his clothes to beckon their passing touches. He wanted to be a man that other men lowered their eyes at, whose presence commanded attention and respect. But most of all he wanted others to feel the same self-hatred he felt when he looked upon the muscled bodies of other men.

Passing his old county boundary, Adrian felt a sense of relief. Something inside him told him that soon he would have what he wanted. The old high school mentality repeatedly flooded into his thoughts, and told him that he was a fool for placing his hopes in a child’s story. He had dispelled all the old prejudices he had had about that strange woman who lived outside of town when he was 16, so why, at 20 years old, was he going back now? What did he expect to accomplish? One side of him felt like another disappointment was on its way. That there was nothing this woman could do for him because she was simply that: a woman! But the other, more dominant side of his desperate mind urged him forward with a sick sense of destiny. A rumour is always started by a grain of truth, something had made his parents lose their words when they tried to confront their child about her, and something had frightened countless children during the night when they had snuck away, against their parents’ behest, to go see the old “witch.”

Adrian didn’t care if he only faced another disappointment. He didn’t care if he was going to see an old, senile woman who probably scared children because of her genuine madness. If there was nothing waiting for him at that old house outside his hometown, then Adrian felt it would be a sort of absolution: he would finally be able to say there was nothing to be done for him. He could go on with his life with a complacent satisfaction that he had at least tried this one last thing.

Out his windshield, Adrian saw the exit ramp ahead, which would take him off the highway and towards the small road that lead into his town. A smile stretched across his face, and the wish he had already prepared for Ariadne repeated once more in his head. It was a wish he had had since he first looked at the developing bodies of his friends, and that he had repeated occasionally ever since, whenever his thoughts turned once again to his inadequacy.

He would ask her, if it was truly within her abilities to do so, to make him masculine; to give him the body he had always wanted; to make women want him and men fear him; to make him into the ideal man…

***

To Be Continued …


[I hope you all enjoyed the first installment! This is the first time I've ever posted a story - anywhere! so be nice. I don't know if you'll find the details boring, but I wanted to flesh the character out a bit before plunging in. But believe me, Adrian has a lot in store for him in the next chapter when he meets the mysterious Ariadne. I look forward to putting out the next installment soon! - Alexcalibur]

[middleman]

Very realistic character development; the longing is one I'm sure many of us can relate to. You have talent!

[no name]

Wow - I can't wait to see where you take it from here.

Cheers,
no name

[howardbeatman]

Ariadne is either: A) Greek, B) a spider, C) a witch, or D) a Greek spider witch!

[alexcalibur]

haha well she's definitely not a spider. It's just a name I've always liked. She was the daughter of King Minos of Crete.

[BBMikeNJ]

Nice beginning. For some reason, it made me think of the old adage "Be careful what you wish for".

[cutlerfan]

Great intro..looking forward to more! Peace!

[Mass Driver]

Sounds to me like you have a very fine start on a good story. Fleshing out the story is the real part of what you write. It's easy to just do a thriller. Or write it like it's porn. But truly great writing pays it's dues and puts you right there where the story is happening. I think that's what you've done so far. Just do what you're doing and...
Keep Writing.

MD

[rabiyya]

Great job, this is a work that you are painting with obvious care. Keep going! :-)

[roninjoey]

I'm definitely looking forward to more of this!