Chapter 1

My life, before I messed it up by pissing off a lady who turned out to be a powerful sorceress was pretty boring. I wasn’t dissatisfied, but felt a vague sense of missing something- well, it probably wasn’t important. I worked, dated several women semi-casualy, none of them exclusively- I thought.

Seems Vanessa had other ideas. Unbeknownst to me she had created in her mind a romantic fantasy centered on me, complete with a white picket fence and children’s names already picked out. All on the basis of two dates and one kiss.

She was young for such power, and emotionally immature, so when she discovered me having a romantic dinner date with another lady, she lost it. She started cursing me, and somehow I was aware enough to know she wasn’t just venting, but felt she was actually casting malevolent magic.

“Rod Wittol, I Curse you! May you have an interesting life, May you come to the attention of the Powerful, and may you provide amusement for the Gods!”

I eked out what positive I could from the Curse, focusing on the details as the Curse invested me, negotiating with the semi-sentient reality warp as to just what the meanings of the words meant to me, as it is the nature of curses to become part of the cursee, using the victims mind to power and quantify itself. (lots of people accidentally curse themselves, in odd ways due to their subconsciousnesses taking to heart awkward interpretations of accepted truths.)

Interesting life not death so you and me Curse, we’re immortal. So the unspoken part is have a long and interesting life. It seems to me that ‘have a blank life’ is a dismissal, with a ‘done with that’ flavor. So let’s not encounter Vanessa again. Also, I should like to be interesting and not just have things happen to me like poor old Job. That one has already been done for at least one God, and repetition is always less interesting.

So, I should be the most interesting Man in the room, if not the world. -that means skills, mondo kewl skills. Also, lots and lots of cutting-edge knowledge.

^it would be more interesting if you have to acquire the skills^ responded the Curse.

Fine, but if it was too difficult or took too long, it would become boring, and uninteresting. So let me pick things up easily and quickly, ok?

As a most interesting Man, I would expect the attention we attract to mostly be from powerful women, or women of powers, and since you were created from jealousy as punishment, that means jealousy is bad, m’kay? Also, powerful women are more interested in younger looking men, so I shouldn’t get beyond a ‘certain age’. The Curse was down with that.

And the Amused Gods, the group of them would be interested in the most interesting man in the world, and would mostly object if one of their number wished to interfere with the the programming, or alter the show, doesn’t that make the most sense?

Winners and the successful are more interesting than losers and failures, especially for powerful women, our target group who’s attention we were trying to get, right Curse?

Curse nodded within my mind. I felt the powerful Curse accept my version of its meaning as it fully invested me.

While curses are driven by the will and intention of the curser, as powerful as Vanessa had been, her intention had been very vague in her inexperience, merely echoing the words she recited without any focus on meaning and intent, so I had been able to reinterpret the Curse as best as I could, spoofing it’s meaning to make it endurable, if not a bit of a blessing. I realized I had to grab my own destiny by the balls, and make it my bitch, or the Curse would ‘help out’.

So, learn the skills and knowledge that would make me a most interesting Man.

I told the Curse, Hey, we’re partners now, together for the long haul, how about we be pals, and you help me fulfill your mandates? I think if I am to be interesting to powerful women I need the skill-sets to follow through, and leave them with a positive if not awestruck aftertaste. Good old Curse was happy to help.

Ditching my unfortunate and embarrassed date who now considered me a two-timer or worse, choosing to side with her fellow female over her intimate dinner date, (which in hindsight was probably the safest thing she could have done.) I made my way toward the sin side of the city.