One for You, One for Me Part 01

Matt couldn’t believe his parents were forcing him to clean out his grandparents old closets. Everyone but him was allowed to go on vacation because he’d gone and failed a couple of his college classes. His parents told him the only way he was going on vacation is if they reimbursed them the money he’d lost them on the classes and since he hadn’t worked in years, there was no way that was going to happen. This was their compromise instead.

He’d spend the week rummaging through the older house and organizing the items in the closets so they wouldn’t have as much to clean out later. Most of it was just junk; stuff his grandparents had been collecting over years. Matt was just surprised how many purses his grandma had gotten. Every time he opened up a new closet there was at least three more. 

“Just think about all the money you’ll get at the garage sale…” he told himself as he kept organizing the junk. This was this third closet he’d gotten into and there were at least five more he had to do. His grandparents had always been loaded but no one seemed to know why. Matt tended not to ask many questions as he preferred spending the money. Everyone had different answers; trust fund, sports, and stock market were the most common. But the money started with him and there weren’t any records of him being a professional athlete. 

Looking at him it wouldn’t be hard to believe he could have played professional football. His tall 6’6” 270 bulky body easily gone pro. But according to everyone he never did. Matt found an old photo of him in his 20’s. His broad shoulders and thick waist would have made him perfect for sports. “Damn… I wish I looked like that…” Matt muttered. In the corner of the room there was something that looked like it was lighting up. Matt turned to the side and moved closer to it. 

It was a stone sitting on the dresser underneath an old hat. It was still flashing. “What is this..?” he questioned as he picked it up. The light flashed brightly blinding Matt and he ended up dropping the stone. 

“Did someone say wish!?” an overly excited cartoonish voice asked. Matt rubbed his eyes trying to figure out what was going on. He suddenly didn’t feel alone anymore. He couldn’t describe it. The blinding flash finally faded away and he was able to see what was floating in front of him. Some kind of jester was dangly upside down in front of him but didn’t look like he was attached to anything.

Matt screamed and fell out of the walk in closet. “What the Hell!?” he shuffled back until he hit the bed behind him. 

“Why howdy there buddy! I’m Falalfal!” the jester like creature floated out of the room and stared down at Matt. “I just love wishes. I can grant you any one that you like. But in turn I get to make one too!” The pitch of his voice shifted all over the place as he spoke. 

“What..?” Matt’s curiosity was starting to get the better of him. “Like a genie?”

“Sort of,” he laughed. “But they don’t like making wishes as much as me! I just love wishes. They’re just so much fun. So many things you can do. So many things you can change. How about it? What do you want to change?!” Falalfal floated in front of face again spinning around in the air. His brightly colored clothes matched his overly chipper voice. He reached out his hand. “What do you say?”

Matt had a list of wishes appear in his head. Instantly he knew more than he could have ever wanted to wish for. He could be bigger, stronger, more athletic, and most importantly rich. He’d never have to work a day in his life if he didn’t want to. But something about the way this creature was grinning at him he couldn’t help but be worried. “But what’s the catch?”

“Catch?” the magical creature pulled back and tried to think about it. “Oh! Catch! You mean, ‘what do I get out of it!’ I get to make a wish too! I just love granting wishes. But I can’t do it without the help from someone else! That’s all it is.”

“Ok… But what will you wish for?” 

“Whatever I want! But sadly, it can only be about as powerful of a wish as you… I would love to be able to change so much but ultimately I can only copy the amount of power your wish gives me…” The magical creature looked sad as he 

“So let’s just say, I wish I had new shoes.”

Falalfal’s grin returned as he made a brand new pair of shoes appear right before Matt. It was exactly like he was thinking about when he wished for them. The new $600 pair of Redstone shoes that all the influencers online were wearing. He’d been begging his parents to get him a pair but they said it was just wasteful. Even if they had the money they weren’t willing to spend it on him. “I wish you only liked wearing boots!” Instantly their red color dulled to a dark brown. The backs started growing upward while the fronts were pointed to a tip. A small heel pushed up from the sole.

“Hey! I don’t want to wear boots…” Matt whined. But all of his thoughts traced back to thinking they were pretty nice. Not to mention how much better value. He could wear something like that for a few years and get some good use out of it. The tough leather that would have surrounded his feet felt really good. Besides, he was needing a new pair as the ones he was wearing were starting to run a bit ragged. 

Matt looked down at his own shoes realizing they had undergone the same treatment. The comfortable running shoes he’d had were replaced by a nice pair of workman’s boots. Each time he moved his foot he could feel the added weight the boots wore down on him instead of the light breeziness of the sneaker. “You get a wish. And I get a wish!” 

The cheeriness in Falalfal’s voice only grinded in Matt’s ears. He cringed at the thought but couldn’t get the fascination he’d had with the expensive shoes. “Fine. Whatever.” Matt rolled his eyes. He wanted to be angry. His parents had always said they spoiled him but he never got anything like those shoes before. It was annoying that he should have to work for anything when his grandparents lived in a mansion like this. His eyes lit up as he thought about a way around it. “I wish I always had at least one, one hundred dollar bill in my wallet.”

“Granted!” Matt pulled out his wallet and saw the crisp one hundred dollar bill there. So many things that he wanted to buy popped into his head. That also meant that every time he spent it, another one would appear in his wallet. A smile crept onto his face until he heard Falalfal’s wish. “I wish you would only spend it when you needed to.”

“What?!” Matt whined. That list of games and systems he was going to but completely vanished. This was only supposed to be used when he didn’t have anything else to spend. “Why would you do that!”

“Because you can’t go and print a bunch of money. The economy would suffer!” Falalfal said. 

“I wish I could spend it on whatever I wanted!” Matt demanded.

Falalfal tutted and waved his finger back and forth. “No. No changing my wishes. I haven’t changed any of your wishes so it’s only fair.”

“But… But… But you did!” thinking back to his first wish.

“I did?” Falalfal repositioned himself trying to think about what Matt meant. “Oh! The boots! No I didn’t change your wish at all. I only changed what you would have wanted. Now you like wearing boots so the shoes changed to boots!”

“But that’s changing my wish!”

“Not at all. I changed you. And then your wish changed with it.”

“Hmph,” Matt pouted. He didn’t know what Falalfal meant. But at the same time didn’t feel like questioning it anymore. “Fine…” Now he felt like he had to think about his wishes. If each one was going to be wished into a way that he might not have liked then what could he wish for that couldn’t be tainted as easily. He looked down at the picture of his grandpa. “I wish… I wish that I was built more like my grandpa when he was younger.”

“Fun! Granted!” Falalfal snapped his fingers and Matt could feel something happening. His heart started racing and his body started growing. He could feel each and every muscle pushing further and further out from his body. He’d been close to the same height as the older man but could feel his bones stretching. 

“Fuck…” Matt groaned as more weight added to his body. Each second he could feel another inch adding to his arms and legs. He could feel the raw strength growing. A deep guttural growl escaped his mouth. It was so hard to contain the power pressing forth from his body. When it finally stopped he looked down at his giant hands in amazement. Every part of his body was bulging. He couldn’t believe how good he felt. Even with the bulky gut in front him didn’t damper his spirits. Only when he saw Falalfal open his mouth did his stomach drop at all.

“I wish you still wanted to grow bigger!” 

“Huh!?” Matt gasped as he felt the rush of adrenaline pumping through his system. Catching his reflection in the mirror he could see just how big he was compared to even a few seconds ago. He’d always been rather thin. His 6’2” body just didn’t hold onto the weight like the other guys in his mom’s side of the family. But now he was so thick. Every part of him bulged. Looking over his body he couldn’t help but want to wish for more.

“Well?” Falalfal shifted his position again, still grinning down at Matt’s body. “Are you ready for your next wish?”