I pinned the photo to the fridge with a magnet. “Take a good long, look at this photo. Really look at it.” I gripped his jaw in my hand. “Look at the potential, the hidden strength in those skinny arms of yours, your brassiness, your posturing, your attachment to your goofy teenage years. You may be an adult in this picture, but you are still very much a kid. In three months you will look at this picture in a completely different way, a way you can’t even fathom now, for when you finish with the first landmark of your training you will be even closer to being a man worthy of serving under other men. There are times when it’s going to get hard and you will fantasize about your previous life. If you quit, I will show you this photo again and all you’ll see is undiscovered potential, like I see. Now, when you’re done looking, let’s sign that contract and we can begin training.”

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We got our first submitted story a while ago, but this was the first submitted photo. I had a bit of trouble drawing a story out of this picture because I didn’t know if the submitter is the person in the picture and thus wasn’t sure what direction he (or she?) wanted me to take it, not sure what’s too far. Hope they like it.