Kara was younger than me by two and a half years and had always been something of the younger girl next door or kid sister. She was a little bit of a tomboy and was noticeable because of her messy medium length red hair. We were neighbors and despite the age difference between us, we ended up talking quite a lot. I was a little bit bookish and shy whereas she was outgoing and curious about the world so when we were growing up, she would always want to hang out with me, ask about the things I was doing, and generally tag along. At times it might've been a little bit annoying but mostly I didn't mind. When I would sit in the backyard and read, one of my favorite hobbies, Kara would always ask about the book I was reading and ask for a summary of the plot. I was a bit of a loner and didn't have tons of friends -- so I kind of liked the attention she gave me.
I got used to having Kara around but as she got older I saw less and less of her. When she became a teenager she started hanging out with a group of friends and didn't have as much interest in me and the things I was doing. I'd see her from time to time but our conversations turned into short "hi" and "bye" as I gradually lost track of her.
The year after high school I felt a little bit directionless. I was working a dead end job at a grocery store and hadn't decided on any path after high school. I saw Kara once when she was shopping with her Mom and was surprised at how much she was growing up. She was still 16 but was getting taller and becoming more and more of an adult.
A year passed and then another and I was just kind of sleepwalking through life. I played video games, read books, and watched movies but not much else. It's not that I didn't want to do anything different, I just didn't know what that would be. Time seemed to pass in a bit of a blur and it wasn't long before I was nearly 20, was more than two and a half years out of high school, and was facing down another year working at the grocery store. It didn't help that my younger sister, Erin, by one year, was heading off to university to enter a competitive engineering program. Where I was kind of directionless, cautious and unsure, Erin was outgoing and driven.
Part of my lack of drive probably came from my experience with my peers. I was always the shorter kid -- I topped out at 5'7 -- and so didn't get invited to parties and didn't have much of a friend group. I guess I just fell kind of by the wayside. I'd gotten used to being the smaller kid in most circles so it didn't really bother me, although I will admit that I felt awkward and uncomfortable when even Erin grew taller than me.
Erin's been taller than me since I was 14 and she was 13. At first my Mom said I shouldn't worry: that boys mature later and that I would shoot past Erin eventually. But in the end, I didn't. Erin was 5'7 by the time she was 15, a full 3" taller than her 14 year old "big" brother. By the time I reached 5'7, Erin stood 5'10 and it was clear that I wasn't going to catch up to her.
At first it was a bit awkward but eventually Erin enjoyed being the taller one: she started calling me "little guy" or "little brother" so often that I just started ignoring it. To make matters worse, once, when I was 17, I accidentally wore a pair of her old jeans, mistakenly thinking that they were mine. They fit me really well and I didn't think anything of it until Erin started laughing when she saw me. "Oh my god, Mike. Those are my jeans from like 3 years ago."
"Whaaat. No, these are mine." I said but then looked at the tag and was mortified by my mistake.
Erin laughed and said, "Want to borrow some of my other stuff? I have some nice blouses that would definitely fit you."
"Stop it, seriously."
She just laughed -- I was humiliated even though Erin didn't really push the issue.
In a lot of ways I think that my passivity, my directionless life, was partially a result of living in Erin's shadow. She was just bigger, more active, more engaged, and I just felt like I was always unable to compete with her or the other kids. That summer Erin won a scholarship and was set to go to a great school while I had no plan other than to keep working at the grocery store.
It was that summer, two years after finishing high school, that I saw Kara again for the first time. She had returned from a summer job of tree planting and I saw her working in her backyard. It was my day off and it was a warm day. I was going out back to read when I heard the sound of someone next door, grappling with wood, picking it up and carrying it. I turned to my neighbor's backyard to see who it was.
As I looked over the fence, I saw a large presence: it was unmistakably Kara but the difference between her now and how she used to be was incredible. Gone was the scrawny girl next door or even the lanky teenager from a few years back and instead was a tall, almost amazonian young woman. She was turned away from me, standing in a shorts and a tank top and I could see, over the fence, that she had grown a lot since the beginning of the year.
Her body looked thick and strong, still feminine but with a wide back, tapering down to a thin waist. She was walking away from me and I could see the muscles in her back moving as she strode across the backyard with the pile of wood. Her black tank top must have been old because the thin straps were straining against the size of her back and the roundness of her shoulders. Her neck was feminine yet had veins indicating her strength and as my eyes moved down I saw her legs which were thick and sturdy. Her messy hair had been replaced by long, attractive mane of bright red. I could also tell, from my vantage, that she was taller than me by at least 4 or 5 inches.
I had always been attracted to sexy muscular women -- I had gone on sites like Diana The Valkyrie and fantasized over what it would be like to be with a strong, attractive woman. Now there was a woman like that living next door!
I think I was lost in my thoughts a little and I must have audibly gasped as I took in her transformation because she turned around and looked at me. Her skin was a deep, warm tan from the hours under the sun, and she had the kind of glow that comes from hard work outdoors. Her green eyes sparkled with an energy I hadn't seen in them before. I realized that while I had been going through the motions of my own life, she had been transforming herself into someone extraordinary. Our eyes met and she smiled, "Mike, is that you?" she called out, her voice a little deeper than I remembered. "Great to see you! How are you?"
I was silent for a second, staring at her. I saw the taut muscles in her forearms bulging as she held the wood. She stood there comfortably, casually holding more weight than I could have ever managed. Finally, I spoke, "Hey, Kara. How are you? I'm good."
She smiled even wider, "I'm great, Mike. Hey, wanna come over for a sec?"
"Sure," I said, and I walked around our fence and entered the backyard.
Her muscular body was even more impressive up close. As I walked up to her I could see her piling the logs and with each one her triceps and biceps popped. Her biceps were taut and wiry -- she looked amazingly strong. The muscles in her legs were even more impressive: her thick thighs bursting with strength.
I came up to her and she turned to me and smiled, standing upright. I couldn't believe how tall she was. I only came up to her chin -- she had to be 6'1 or 6'2. I felt absolutely cowed in her presence and turned on by my proximity to this young goddess. She smiled and said "Great to see you!" as she threw her arms around me in a hug that was surprisingly strong, and I felt a pang of nostalgia for the days when she had looked up to me, both literally and figuratively. I felt the power in her embrace and was positively crushed against her strong body. My face was pulled into her shoulder and her breasts pressed against my upper body -- they were not huge but firm and I felt them as she pulled me into her embrace.
Standing in front of her, she smiled down on me with genuine affection. I couldn't help but feel a mix of happiness in seeing her, arousal in her transformation, and a kind of willing submission at the difference between us. This younger girl stood a full head taller than me and was clearly stronger than me in every way. She exuded power and strength and I was somewhat in awe of her presence. Her transformation was more than just physical; there was a maturity and grace about her that hadn't been there before. Even her voice was deeper and more authoritative than before. The awkwardness of her teenage years had been replaced by a poise and confidence that made her seem years beyond her age.
We stood there and chatted for a while and she told me all about her experience tree planting, the friends she made, and how much it had helped her mature and learn about herself. The contrast between her maturity and my stuntedness really struck home: she had a new wisdom and understanding of the world that I was taking in. I found myself captivated by her, not just by her newfound beauty, but by the strength and resilience she exuded. Her hands were calloused, and there was a sense of purpose in her every movement that was incredibly alluring. Her strength, her height, her intelligence: I felt like a small flower taking in the sun's radiance.
When she asked me about what I was up to, I was embarrassed but didn't have much to say but she nodded and demonstrated understanding. "You know, sometimes people just need the right push to get to where they belong, to figure out who they are" she said with a smile.
As she spoke, I couldn't help but notice the way the muscles in her arms flexed and her broad shoulders squared. I don't know if it was the power of her presence or just that what she saying was true, but I found myself agreeing with her.
