Rena shivered, hugging her thin blanket as close as she could to her diminutive form. Weak from hunger, Rena stumbled under the bridge that would be her home for the next few days. With a herculean effort, Rena dragged herself into a comfortable position under the bridge.
Rena hadn't always been in this situation. In fact, it was a fairly recent thing. Four months ago, Rena had been a member of the mafia, and a rather successful and wealthy member at that. In fact, she was so successful, that the boss, a husky by the name of Antonio, told the other members of the mafia to, ahem, "deal with" her. One bumpy car ride and a bullet in each shin later, and Rena was no longer a problem. A little more meddling on the mafia's part, and Rena Westfall was declared legally dead on October 5th.
Unfortunately, it seemed like Rena would actually be dead in a few days if she wasn't miraculously saved somehow. The bullet wounds in her legs had gotten infected with something nasty, and Rena could almost feel her body shutting down. She supposed that it was the middle of February didn't help either.
As Rena curled up to go to sleep, possibly for the last time, she spotted something near her head. It looked like some kind of stone tablet with weird symbols on it. Rena didn't know what compelled her, but she tried to dig up the tablet. It took a long time, but as the sun's last rays touched the earth, she managed to pulled the tablet out of the hole she dug.
"The hell are you?" Rena asked quietly. She rubbed her hand across the lower half of the tablet to wipe the dirt off. As she did so, the symbols on the tablet flashed briefly. Intrigued, Rena slid her hand across the tablet again, slower this time. As her hand passed over the center, the symbols lit up again. Curious, Rena placed her hand of the center of the tablet, lighting up the symbols once more. After a few seconds, a voice spoke in Rena's mind.
"Thank you, Rena Westfall, for awakening me from my slumber," the voice boomed.
"The hell? How do you know my name?" Rena asked the voice.
"I know your name for I am Epsilon, the god of exchange," the voice answered. "I know of anything that has been exchanged between two mortals."
"A god of exchange, huh?" Rena said. "Say, could you use your godly powers to get me out of this mess?"
"I can," Epsilon said. "However, you must give me something in return."
"The hell? Why?" Rena asked. "I've been living like shit for the past four months! Can't you exchange that for a better life?"
"I cannot reverse an exchange by making its opposite," Epsilon said. "Someone has already wished this upon you."
Rena growled. "Who? I'll fuck 'em up."
"I also cannot reveal the creators of past exchanges," Epsilon said hurriedly. "I can give you a better life, but you must exchange something you hold dearly if you wish to do so."
Rena thought to herself. What did she have left that she held dearly? She didn't really care about her blanket or her clothing. She didn't have any jewelry. The only thing she did hold in high value was...
"I offer my looks," Rena said. "I've always been highly attached to my looks. They're the only thing I hold dearly."
"Very well," Epsilon said. "The exchange has been made. When you wake tomorrow, you will have a better life, but you will gradually lose what you consider to be your beauty over a course of nine months. When you wake, you will have lost ten percent of your beauty. Farewell."
The symbols on the tablet stopped glowing, and the tablet faded away. Rena laid down on her side and closed her eyes on the last day of her old life.
§.........§
Rena woke up in a large white bed. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
"Mmf... I think that deal worked," Rena noted. Lethargically, Rena stood up, and had to steady herself slightly.
"Weird," Rena noted. "I'm off balance."
Rena fumbled her way into her bathroom. Rena stepped onto her scale and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. When she saw the number on the display, she gasped.
"What the hell? I can't weigh that much!"
How much does Rena weigh?  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2025 Gandalf The Red (UN: thetruesteve at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Nick Knight has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author