Tags: MC, MF, GR, MD
Synopsis: A controller takes his revenge on his neighbor out on his wife.
Author's note: This is loosely based on an old Isaac Azimov tale of a small demon and his wish fulfillment tendencies from one specific story whose name escapes me, and the writing style of 'Dexter' author Jeff Lindsay. If you like it, thank you. If you don't, blame them! :) Also be aware that this is not a 'happily ever after, nice guys win' story like most of mine.
*****
Bad Neighbor
by Paladin
There are two things you need to know to appreciate this little tale.
First, I am a monster. Exactly what I mean by that will certainly be revealed as the story unfolds. For now you just need to know that I can 'Do Things'. Interesting things.
Second, my neighbor wronged me. The nature of his offense is not important to the tale. Hell, he is not even really aware of his offense or its magnitude in my mind.
How do I describe my neighbor? He is so ordinary it must hurt to live his life. He is not truly evil (and I would know, trust me), but fully consumed by those minor demons so many humans are subject to-sloth, greed, stupidity, short-sightedness, and so forth. He is also an unattractive man on top of that. Think Danny Devito but taller and probably older. Certainly, he has so-called 'redeeming characteristics' that society places such value on. He treats his dog well, mows his yard, pays his taxes, listens to acceptable music at acceptable volumes, and loves his wife.
And that was a key point. I spent some time contemplating exactly what shape my revenge would be. In times past, I might have sickened his milk cows or soured the soil under his crops, or cast him full of any of dozens of delightfully nasty ailments. Leprosy was always a good choice.
But Maxwell Canter loved his wife. Yes- Maxwell. Can you believe it? One could easily believe that his parents hated him from the start from this evidence alone, but he seemed proud of the ridiculous name.
Maxwell's wife was a reasonably pleasant woman... although not attractive by any standards I have ever heard of. Think Danny Devito's wife, Rhea Perlman, and drop a couple more notches while adding some years. Her name was Minnie. I always suspected her parents named her after the cartoon rodent, and Maxwell loved to introduce themselves as Max and Min. What wit. Minnie kept a lovely little garden, took care of Max and the house, held a part-time job as a telemarketer (she had a pleasant voice), and had actually dropped off home-made cookies to me in the past. If she only knew.
The perfect revenge came to me late at night. I need very little sleep so I was able to immediately put parts of the plan in place. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.
A couple of days later, a package was delivered to the clueless woman. I did not need to read her mind since I already knew what it was. She was the happy winner of a some salon-quality health and beauty products, starting with some shampoo and conditioner. She 'remembered' entering a web-based contest and the 'you are a winner' email. I had a little chuckle over some of her answers on the survey about her hair, skin, and so forth. It was amusing to see how self-deluded humans can be.
The next morning was a glorious day- the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything was fresh and clean, but it was a great day nonetheless. By noon, Minnie was out in her garden hard at it. I Said hello across the fence and was pleased, but unsurprised, to notice a change already. Minnie usually wore her crinkly silver-shot hair in a kerchief, while today she was wearing it loose. It looked darker, shinier and healthier- as well it should considering what all I put in the bottles.
"Good morning, Mrs. Canter, isn't it a lovely morning?" Never let it be said that I could not fake the niceties well. "You are looking very nice today. Is that a new hairstyle?"
"Oh, hello. Uh, not so much a new style as a new shampoo. Isn't it amazing what the right shampoo can do for you? I've always used the cheap stuff, but I guess that you get what you pay for." She continued to prattle on good-naturedly for several minutes with no encouragement from me. Having nothing special to do I was perfectly happy listening to her prattle. Truth be told, it was more interesting than what was going through that junk heap she called a mind.
It was barely even a effort to eavesdrop on the couple that evening. Max was quite pleased with Min's new 'do', but managed to insinuate that she spent too much or got involved with a shady sales program or something. The nerve of him calling my integrity into question, even unknowingly like that. He gave her her goodnight kiss and the scent of her hair stirred him, but it was late and the flesh is weak... as per other subtle properties of the shampoo.
Further applications of the hair products over the next week resulted in her hair getting even longer and shinier. It was approaching 'lustrous' and signaled the next step of the plan.
She got another package a few days later- diet pills. Yes, you are right- diet pills do not work. Ever. But... these were not ordinary diet pills and they were quite guaranteed to achieve the desired results. Within hours of receiving them she was spending time in her bathroom divesting herself of no-longer needed mass in several ways. Poor woman, she had quite a bit of mass to purge so I was quite content to not closely monitor this phase.
I limited the loss to only a few pounds a day so as to not overly stress her body but I noticed the differences every few days. Her natural thriftiness combined with Max's sheer cheapness and mild paranoia about what was going on meant she was wearing clothing that was increasingly loose on her. Just for the hell of it, I made all of her old clothes feel just a bit uncomfortable. Watching her squirm as she gardened was a delightful garnish on top of my delicious vengeful dessert.
By the time she was what was considered a typical weight for her height, she was wearing the lightest clothes she could, finding that some fabrics affected her less than others- light, silky stuff was good, and oddly, some of the tighter stuff felt the best.
Minnie did not know it but the pills were also taking care of various diseases and conditions, like her arthritis and some heart issues. I am such a generous monster, aren't I? She had a few more pounds to go (she found that even though she was happier with her weight, that she could not quite stop taking the pills for 'some unknown reason' heh heh. That was OK, though- they are almost gone anyway) but it was time for the next step. I debated for a while with myself on this one, but decided to go with skin cream.
On the day before she received her first skin treatment, Minnie was in her garden. She had lost quite a bit of weight, and her skin hung quite loosely in several places. On the other hand, the loss of most of her excess weight brought out some of the good bone structure in her face. She looked rather goofy- like a cute doll's head on a Raggedy Ann body. The actual texture of her skin was blotchily tan and rather coarse, it looked like it might even be a bit leathery.
Max really liked the next item delivered- a coconut-scented skin lotion that the two of them rubbed onto every inch of her body. This activity aroused Max a lot- a few minutes of rubbing the slick stuff on Min's thinner body got him throbbingly hard- when Min herself seemed to be expressing no real interest in sex at all. It amused me to have turned her arousal almost completely off and to have inhibited her awareness of sexuality and sexual cues completely. Right now, she barely knew what sex was and poor Max was ready to explode. This would be so much fun over the next few days!
As Min worked in the garden later in the week, her skin was visibly tighter and smoother, an even soft bronze tan color, and looked invitingly soft to touch. "Hello, Mrs. Canter. You are looking nice today. Is that a new dress?"
"This old thing?" She was telling the truth- the faded blue dress had seen hundreds of washings but it was one of the few she had left that felt right to wear.