Prelude

Desmond was worried about the fact that his experiment was presently unattended. Describing what happened when he activated was difficult. Were he not a man of science, he might say his soul or spirit was ejected from his body. Then that soul traveled some distance before attaching itself to a new form. Now Desmond found himself inside the body of a young woman. But it wasn’t being in the wrong body that made him nervous, it was his experiment. If it continued unchecked, it would likely swap more and more people. If he couldn’t get to it in time, it might even implode and swap everyone in the world.

He needed to shut it down, but there was a problem. In his current form, there was no way he would get by the personnel checkpoints. Even if he did, his lab had biometric security limiting access to only a few people. He arrived at the perimeter still without a plan. He sat by the fence trying to think. Ultimately, he knew he couldn’t just sit here all day; he had to try something. And that’s when the bright light same shooting out of the lab...

The Tiki

Kelsey was trying to wrap her head around what was going on. All morning her boyfriend had been telling her that he was actually her best friend, Allison. A few hours later, Allison shows up with a weird tiki statue and says she is actually her boyfriend Marc.

“So, you’re saying, that he is,” Kelsey said addressing Allison’s body while pointing to Marc, “Or that she is? That she is actually Allison. And you’re actually Marc.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all morning!” Allison said from Marc’s body, “And I told Marc to bring the tiki, because I think it’s responsible for all this.”

“Well, how do I know that thing is not going to swap MY body with one of you two?”

“That’s why you should probably get out of here.”

“If it’s going to swap her, it may already be too late,” Marc in Allison’s suggested, “We didn’t swap bodies after touching this thing until we went to bed. You and I should probably try touching it again. But we’re probably not going to know anything until we fall asleep again.”

“So I could wind up in HIS body?” Kelsey said pointing to Marc again, “I love you, Hon, but I don’t want to BE you.”

“I don’t want to be him either!” Allison added.

“And I don’t want to be you!” Marc added, “So let’s just touch this thing and hope for the best!”

Grabbing a Beer

Bill didn’t have explanation for what was happening. All he knew was that seemed to be in a rather nice house, and his brain or soul or whatever now seemed to be inside a woman’s body. Maybe he was dreaming; maybe it was all in his head; he decided not to dwell on it. Instead he just went to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

With a cold one in his hands, his plopped his now bubble butt on the couch cushions. Then he proceeded to turn on the televison, where a news report was playing.

“Authorities have not figured out a cause of the massive body swapping and have suggested no way to reverse it will be forthcoming anytime soon,” The talking head on the television said.

“Well, shoot,” Bill said as he took a swig of his beer. He was crossing his legs in a feminine manner without even noticing. As the reporter continued to describe more details about what he was calling “The Great Shift,” Bill kept drinking more and more. He got through a whole six-pack before he realized this wasn’t a dream, and he was going to be stuck like this. Finally, he decided he better figure out who he was now, and picked up a purse on the floor. He set it beside himself on the couch for a few minutes before digging in to look for identification.

The Farmhouse (Part 5)

View Part 1 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 2 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 3 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 4 of The Farmhouse.

After a day or two, my sister came to me and told me she had found someone. They’d be coming over this weekend. I smiled and asked to see a picture. Technically, the weekend was a little less than a week, but I could tell my sister desperately wanted her body back, so I agreed.

“Does she know that she is coming over to be swapped into my body?” I said.

My sister took a long pause before answering, “No...What are we going to do once she’s actually in your body?”

“It’s not like anyone is going to believe her. We’ll just tell Mom not to let her in...me in...you know what I mean.”

“Still, it’s kind of cruel to steal someone’s body...”

“I can stay in yours, if you’d prefer that?”

My sister gave me a cold look, “I think that’s exactly my point, assshole.”

Still Alive

“Am I going to die, Doc?” David asked.

“It’s a miracle that you’re still alive,” The doctor replied, “Obviously, transplanting your brain into a new body was highly risky and experimental.”

“You’ve told me I’m a woman, but I can’t feel it. I can’t look down and see it. Even when looking in a mirror, I can’t reach out to confirm the reflection is truly me. Even the voice I hear when I speak, I have to tell myself it’s really different. My head hears it as my own.”

“You need to be parient. The stem cells and nanobots are still repairing the various pathways from your brain and spine to the rest of your body. They prioritized the vital systems like your heart and your lungs. You’ve only been able to speak since yesterday.”

“What if they stop working?”

“You shouldn’t lose your current functions, but you wouldn’t gain any new ones.”

“And whose body do I have? Who was she?”

“We don’t know. She fried her brain on a drug overdose, but she was otherwise healthy except for a few minor injuries that the nanobots are also repairing...”