Chapter 1

Cameron had always been a little small for his age. He was no dwarf, but any of his father’s dreams of raising a star quarterback were futile. As a child this had only been an inconvenience, but now, in his third year of high school, he was still scrawny and it was screwing up his love life. Or at least his attempts at one.

Maybe there were girls who would have gone out with him, but he couldn’t stay in his own league. He’d asked out Holly Light, the head cheerleader. Her eyes got big with surprise and politely explained that she was already going out with Randall Scott. He, naturally, was the star quarterback. And he’d tried to see a movie with Jessica Redstone, the lacrosse babe, and she said yes, but he could tell she was just being nice. She gave him a total friend-zone peck on the cheek after the movie and that had been that.

Recently, Cameron had been after Beth Silva, trying to arrange a time when they could see a play together. But for one reason or another, Beth would always be busy, or have something else planned. Cameron wished, for once, someone would just tell him “no” to his face. He thought he had seen some of Beth’s friends giggling when they saw him approaching her the last time.

Maybe he should have dated someone more in his range, but that would have meant going for one of the band geeks or one of the goths. They were all right to hang out with, in fact he used to be friends with them in middle school, but he wanted to date girls he wanted to bang, and Cameron wanted to bang babes.

Images from today’s encounter with Beth were in his mind as he walked home from school. The cool April air nipped at him with little bites. Her friends turning away a little as he got near, like they didn’t want to look at him! Her look of steely resolve, as if she had planned the conversation already and just wanted to get through the script.

“If only I was more muscular,” he thought. That was never going to happen. Guys like Cameron didn’t go to the gym. His dad had signed him up for a local gym at the beginning of the school year, but he just couldn’t stand spending an hour every other day in a stinky place lifting things up and down. What a waste of time. Cameron was so lost in his own misery he didn’t even see where he was going.

“OOF!” said a fat man as Cameron ran flat into him. “Watch it, shrimp!”

“You watch it, wide-load!” he spat back.

Cameron bent down to pick up his math book. As he recomposed himself, he looked around as if seeing the street for the first time. He had walked home this way a hundred times, but he had never noticed that there was a doorway between two storefronts that led to a store on the second floor. He always wondered what retailer would buy space on anything but the first floor of a building. After all, how many stores does anyone go to that are on the second floor?

“Magick Within Reach,” read the stenciled letters on the window. Below the words was an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of bright green paper with words hastily written in sharpie reading, “Want to get ready for summer but don’t have time for the gym? Come see us! Weight-loss / exercise products half off!”

At first, Cameron didn’t think that the paper sign went with the magic store. After all, a store named “Magick Within Reach” was probably a hangout for LARPers and 12 year-olds wanting boxes of tricks, and weight-loss products were usually found in GNC nutrition centers. But there was no other tenant listed on the door.

A sudden gust of wind sliced at him, and without thinking Cameron stepped in the door. It was warm, an old steam radiator clanging cheerfully at the bottom of the staircase. He looked up the stairs, then looked outside. It had started to rain.

Well, he did want to get in shape for the summer. But what could a store with a name like that offer? Taking one last look at the steady rain outside, Cameron turned back around, and climbed up the stairs.

The door in the hallway at the top of the stairs was wooden, dark and heavy-looking. It didn’t seem to match the vinyl tiles and greenish fluorescent light of the hallway at all. An ornate etched sign on the door repeated the name of the store from below, “Magick Within Reach.” Cameron leaned toward the handle and pushed. It weighed a ton. He opened the door enough to allow him and his backpack in, then let it slam shut.

The interior of the store matched the door much better than the hallway had. It was lined all in dark, splintery wood, except for the floor which was worn smooth with age. The place was full of clutter, with shelves and cases everywhere holding knickknacks of all sorts. Some shelves were stuffed with heavy leather-bound books. Others were packed with variously sized unlabeled bottles filled with strange liquids. Here and there were small brass instruments, little iron sculptures with no discernible purpose, and even a case of jewelry.

Despite the clutter, there was very little dust anywhere. Although some of the bottles were cloudy with age, the air was clear, if a bit stuffy.

“Ah, hello young man!” came a voice from somewhere out of sight beyond a bookshelf to the left. An old man in an apron and carrying a feather duster appeared. He had a large nose and little tufts of white hair. He wore a number of pendants and rings, which jangled sweetly. A small pair pince-nez glasses perched comfortably on the nose without fear of falling off. He gave Cameron a brief but cagey once-over.

“Here for the half-off special, I presume?” he asked encouragingly. Seeing Cameron’s hurt look, he put up his hands in defense. “No offense meant, of course, I just assumed between the nasty spill I saw you take outside and your, ah, difficulty with the door, perhaps you saw my new sign.”

“Oh screw you grandpa -- I might be in here for, I dunno, a game of D&D or something for all you know!”

“D&--? Well I apologize, I meant nothing by it. My mother always said I should learn to keep my mouth shut. As you can see, I still have a ways to go on that one!”

“You know what, I knew this was a waste of time,” and he turned to leave.

“But Cameron, I think I can help you.” Cameron stopped, and turned cautiously.

“I didn’t tell you my name.”

“No, but this is a shop that specializes in magic, and among other things we sell this small pendant of identification for only $59.95 ... It’s a very good deal.” The old man was holding up a small hunk of amber on a chain.

“You’re joking.”

“No joke! Here, try it on -- free sample!” The old man took the chain off his neck and held it out to Cameron. He took it gingerly.

“This is a lower-end model, it simply gives you names, but for just another hundred dollars we have one that will also get you anyone’s address and phone number. Great for a night on the town, know what I mean?” The old man smiled brightly.

Cameron, in a trance-like state, put his math book down on a nearby shelf and put the pendant on his neck. The man’s name was Benedict Fudgepacker.

“--Fudgepacker???”

The old man grinned from ear to ear. “Ah, no of course not. But, what would a spell be without a counter-spell? I’m wearing our ruby ring of dis-identification -- only $74.95. Perfect when you wish to remain unknown amongst those you dislike. But please, call me Ben.” He kept smiling.

Cameron clumsily removed the pendant and handed it back to Ben, still in shock. It had worked. He wouldn’t have believed it, but the name had simply popped into his head. And he hadn’t even said the first name which -- Ben, he now knew -- had offered to him. It couldn’t be a trick. Cameron’s backpack started feeling heavy and he was feeling queasy.

“Now, young man, I think I can help you, but I need to know exactly what you want.”

“Well, uh,” Cameron stammered.

“I can assure you, we here at Magick Within Reach keep our customers in strictest confidence. We couldn’t do such good repeat business if we didn’t. My highest desire is to make your desires reality.” There was a twinkle in Ben’s eye now.

Cameron had a feeling Ben knew exactly what Cameron wanted, that he could peer into his head with one of his many magical pendants and rings. This didn’t make him afraid, however. If Ben knew what he was thinking, he had nothing to hide now. Better to just tell him.

“I’d like to be larger, more muscular.” He said it quickly, giving voice to thoughts he had never uttered aloud. “More attractive to women.”

Old Ben smiled. “And who wouldn’t! Which is why I’m here. I think I have just the thing.” He shuffled off, the sound of jingling getting softer. Cameron stared at the floor. He put down his heavy backpack. How could this work? It was getting dark, he needed to get home and get working on his history paper.

A shuffling and jingling sound brought him back to reality.

“I think you’ll find that this will have the effect you’re looking for,” said Ben, and he held up an orange prescription bottle full of blue pills.

“Ew, what is that, your Viagra stash?” Cameron’s face screwed up in disgust. He knew this was a bad idea.

“Young mister Cameron, you really have an attitude problem, you know? One day you’ll discover that your first instinct is not necessarily correct. Now I could have given you this spell in the form of a potion, but I don’t think a musty bottle of liquid would blend in well with the belongings of a young man such as yourself, mm?” Old Ben narrowed his eyes shrewdly. He had a point.

“Take one of these per day, and take it for the number of days equal to how much heavier you wish to be. You won’t just gain weight, you’ll add muscle and height in proportion. Furthermore, you will find the ladies more interested in you than normal, even aside from the simple change in physique. The people around you will not be surprised by the sudden change, however, but will believe you’ve been working out for a while.”

Cameron looked at the bottle. “What if I take them all at once?”

Ben frowned slightly. “It’s not advisable. You’ll grow twice as fast, but the part of the spell keeping others believing the growth is normal won’t keep up. You’ll be answering a lot of ugly questions and getting kicked out of sports programs, I imagine.”

Now Cameron frowned too. It sounded like taking them once a day wouldn’t be so bad. If he took the pills for two months, that would be enough to get as large as he wanted to be.

“How much?” he asked.

Old Ben looked at him closely. “$600.”

“So with half-off that’s 300$?”

The old man grimaced. “That is the sale price.”

“Six hundred dollars??” Cameron nearly yelled. “I’m in high school, I don’t have that kind of money! How is that ‘within reach’??”

“Yes, well, I’m sorry mister Cameron, but this is very special stuff. It’s safe, it’s effective. Your people’s prescription drugs have been known to cost ten times that.”

Cameron was getting desperate. Here was his ticket out of his crappy social life being dangled in front of him, and the old bat was snatching it away.

“I just can’t get that kind of money ... Can’t I get half the pills for 250$? That’s all I have saved up.”

Old Ben remained firm. “I’m sorry, young man, but the number of pills does not drive the cost. If you like, I have a slightly different formula...” He reached in one of his pockets.

Cameron rolled his eyes. He should have seen this bait-and-switch coming.

Ben held out another prescription bottle. “These are fast-acting but short-lived. You take one pill for every 10 pounds you wish to gain, and you’ll achieve that in five minutes. The attraction effect is also magnified. It will only last for four hours, however.”

Cameron considered this. “That might be OK before every date...”

But Ben shook his head. “These are going to be too expensive and too dangerous for long-term use. But if you can show someone a good time once, you may find they will be willing to put up with your regular size on other occasions.”

Ben smiled as he saw Cameron grimace.

“Oh cheer up, you young people always think you’re uglier than you are. Now, these are typically 300$ for the bottle, but I’m willing to give them to you for the 250$ you say you have. I’m so confident you’ll like them, I’ll even give you four of them for free, right now, as a sort of trial run.” Ben opened the top of the bottle and shook out four small orange pills into his hand.

This might be worth it, he thought. If the pills really did what the old man said, he could take one before he asked Beth out, and then three on the actual date. That might be enough to get her to hook up with him more often.

“Deal,” he said. “but I can’t buy the full bottle until next week.”

Old Ben smiled widely, showing yellowing teeth. “Excellent. I do have to warn you, these pills are more unstable than the others. Do be careful.”

He took the four pills and dropped them into a third bottle and handed it to Cameron.

“Sure,” said Cameron, and he took the bottle and shoved it in his pocket. His mind racing, he almost forgot to grab his math book and bag on his way out. It was dark out now, but the rain had stopped. He pulled hard on the door, and left.

Ben smiled as Cameron left, furrowing his brow as the door slammed shut. He was glad he was able to come up with that story about the dis-identification ring. He’d have to look at the identification pendant and figure out why it was broadcasting silly last names. Magic could be so troublesome at times!

Cameron lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. If he hadn’t had the bottle of four pills on his desk, right there, he would have written off his experience that afternoon as a fever dream. But every time the logical part of his mind tried to argue that magic was impossible, he remembered the experience with the pendant. There was no other explanation for how he had suddenly known the old fart’s name, like he had known him for years. He had fastened the chain, and pop! -- he knew.