Second Chance - Part 1

[qzxkj]

'Second Chance'
Author's Note:
Hey all long time lurker here, this is my first bit of fiction I've written, please be kind but any feedback is really appreciated. There is no muscle growth in this introduction but there will be plenty to come. Please enjoy.
~~~
"Duncan your turn"

"Okay, I'll use Magic Missile on the ant queen"

"Roll"

"It's a.. 15 plus er.. 10, 25"

"Versus?"

"Reflex"

"It hit"

"Cool, can I borrow a D4?" I looked around the table.

John passed his prismed die over.
I threw the dice.

"Thanks, okay that's .. three plus.. umm.. add my Intelligence.. thats er.. 19 damage," I reported.

Rachel looked down from her thick black rimmed spectacles after doing a quick sum on paper and conferring with her Dungeon Master's manual.

"The ant queen dies!" she exclaimed.

"Finally!" said Shane, "This was taking forever."

"It wouldn't have taken forever if you hadn't tried to be diplomatic with an insect" said James

"Or if we ommitted James' oratory on the impossibility of insects reaching that size" I smiled back.

"Well it WOULD be impossible," James began, "a tracheal system of that size would not be sufficient to keep it alive, unless..."

Everyone was used to these factual interludes - James couldn't let this type of stuff go, he felt he had to display his knowledge to everyone, even in the presence of his equally nerdy friends. That didn't stop Shane and John launching into their own hypotheses on how the ant queen could exist as well.

"Aaaanyway" Rachel groaned "That's it for D&D for tonight, you all get 2400 experience points for killing the ant queen and you also find 100 gold pieces"

The table was immediately silenced as everyone scribbled down this important information.

"You also find a ring" Rachel continued.

"Is it magical? I'm rolling for Arcana" squealed James.

"I'm gonna do a Religion check I bet it's something to do with that" said John.

"I'm gonna.. " Shane started

"Okay guys, it's not magical, it's not affilliated with a deity and no Shane, you can't be diplomatic with it."

Shane's face looked hilariously deflated.

"Besides, Duncan found it first, he gets to keep it, it is valued at 500 gold" Rachel smiled at me.

I smiled back, Rachel always favoured me. Just as James was about to make a case against this injustice I quickly intervened.

"Who's up for some WoW?"

Immediately everyone whipped out their laptop computers and Dungeons and Dragons was quickly replaced with a marathon of World of Warcraft.

At about 3am in the morning the gamer's stamina started to fade and John, James, Shane and Rachel slowly made their exits from my house. Already discussions at the front door began on when to meet next.

Once everyone left I briefly cleant up the mess then quickly decided I'd worry about it the next day. There was still something that needed attention.

I returned to my computer, almost automatically I began accessing webpages filled with images of muscled men. I unzipped my jeans and pushed them down to my ankles.

While finding a starting point my eyes became transfixed on an image of a young muscle hunk, he was standing next to much smaller friends who were just as young, no older than 16, this guy was obviously the young alpha muscle god, his chest was unreal for his age, the outline of his pecs completely visible through the tight white shirt he was wearing, his biceps strained the sleeves with a thick vein running through them. The width of his body was incredible, his mass dwarfed everyone in the picture. You could see from his handsome boyish face that he knew he was a teen muscle god.

I don't know how long it was that I stared at the picture, but it was at that moment that the dam of my innermost desires cracked and a deluge of thoughts poured through.

Deep down, I want to be him, I wanted to know what it would feel like to have muscles like that, but I wanted it when I was like him - in high school.
I wanted the experience of having that power and size in high school, where the same people would be forced to see how small and weak they are compared to me every day, to see me growing bigger than them every day. I wanted to be the alpha jock, the guy you wouldn't dream of messing with, I wanted to make them all jealous of how hot I would be and to know they'd be jerking off at night thinking about how they wanted to be me.

But this wasn't the reality. I am 25, underweight with no muscular tone at all, never played sports, never lifted a weight in my life. Too insecure about my own physical appearance to even begin thinking of finding a boyfriend and too intimidated and ashamed to work out at a gym. I've never known what it's like to have muscles - what they must feel like when they are flexed and when they aren't, to have that strength and power.

Like the Bard from D&D, I could get through it all with my intelligence, charisma and natural talent, I could surround myself with people who were the same, and I convinced myself I was satisfied.

When I think back to my high school years I only remember homework, assignments and video games, I allowed myself to become a runt by ignoring my physical condition entirely, eating to survive, moving to get from the computer to my bedroom.

Why didn't I realise when I was younger that I could of had it all.

At that thought I snapped out of the trance, I suddenly felt too tired to bother with any of this and promptly turned off the computer and crawled in to bed unsatisfied.

As my eyes closed all I could think of was wishing I had a second chance at being a teenager.

~~

The sun's rays made it's unwelcome arrival the next morning. I groaned and flopped from left to right.

Except my window doesn't face that direction.
I froze in bed, my heart racing, I breathed in sharply and then stopped breathing altogether.

I can hear Mum's voice in the distance, a voice I haven't heard in years. I felt around with my legs to discover a much smaller bed than what I'm used to.
Legs that are.. much smaller than what I'm used to.

My eyes shot open I put up my hands, my arms, they appeared smaller and weaker than ever, I launched out of bed and rapidly inspected with mouth agape. I stared at the mirror in the room, the room I recognise as my bedroom when I lived at home, it's me staring back at the mirror, small and frail.

My mind raced, is this a dream? I've never had a dream like this, it's too real.

I slapped myself.

Still here.

Just before I really started to panic the door burst open.

"Oh, you're awake" said the long dark haired woman. It was Mum.

I stood there, stunned, immobile.

"Hello?" she said, leaning on the door handle.

"H..hi" I stammered.

"Are you okay?" she said, genuinely concerned.

I paused for a moment.

"Duncan?"

"Yeah I'm fine.. Mum, just felt a bit dizzy, that's all"

"Oh.. well you better get ready quickly because we need to get your books today"

"My books?" I was still too stupefied to realise the obvious.

"You're books for high school? You've got 30 minutes to get ready, hurry it up"
"O..k"

Mum walked off and closed the door behind her.

I locked it, holding on to the lock for an eternity like a statue

With an explosion of energy I stripped off my clothes down to my Batman print jocks and took a long look at my emaciated form in the mirror.
A huge smirk formed on my face.

I dropped to the floor. Hands spread apart, palms flat on the floor holding my torso up, feet straight and aligned, I bent my elbows letting my chest dip right down to the floor feeling the strain of the never used chest muscles. I pushed back up, finishing the movement.

"One," I grinned.

[heatofrxn]

Wow! Great start to what I'm sure will be a very interesting story. I liked the exposition -- it really sets the stage for what may be coming in the story.

[Yachirobi]

Interesting. I want to know how the D&D is going to mix up with this. It's one thing to have a character travel back in time to his younger days to beef himself up but you can't throw away the role-playing or the geek friends. It doesn't matter how huge you get, a nerd is always a nerd... and hopefully proud of it! I also like that we're not jumping right into the muscle growth or the porno stuff. It's one thing to write a fantasy, it's another thing to write a real story that has fantasy. I'm excited to see another writer come out with more on his mind than the ususal MG porn and I'm really excited to read part 2!

[nnnrg]

So, it wasn't magical huh?

That was a wish ring. We all know it.

[cutlerfan]

Perhaps even a ring of three wishes? Someone else could find it and get what they want too! Peace!

[umlerian49]

For your first attempt at fiction, it's very, very good. The dialog is realistic and easy to follow, and the whole piece flows smoothly. Well done.

As for the plot, it's a pretty conventional start, so I expect you to put on your thinking cap and surprise us all. I'm sure you can do it. Remember-- well developed characters are the surest way to hook your reader.

[RyBearATL]

Good work, and a good introduction. Keep going!

[Reeza]

Well written. Intriguing. Thanks for writing and please continue.

[qzxkj]

Thanks for the responses guys, I'm really eager to get the next part out. Stay tuned!

[funboy]

This has all the makings of FUN! My kind of story!