Split

“Well, this isn’t fair. I didn’t want to be a woman! How come I had to become the woman.”

“We’re both still me...or us? I think that machine just sort of split us into two people -- supposedly the two sides of us. Maybe you’re our feminine side?”

“I don’t feel feminine! I feel wrong! And that’s supposed to be art? I can’t wait until we re-merge at the end of this.”

The exhibit was certainly a unique one. Each person would go in as one person, come out as two -- their personality split down the middle in some meaningful way. Brian was certainly shocked to have one of his persons come out as female -- with the Brian in the female body particularly concerned about it...

Seahorses

My wife and I had both signed up for the human-animal hybrid experiments about a year ago. Some people got some pretty cool abilities from the program -- echolocation or amazing night vision and things like that. My wife and I didn’t notice any immediate changes, but our intimate time in the bedroom was more wild than I think either of us anticipated.

I also never anticipated that I would be the one to get pregnant from all those escapades -- but the growing belly was undeniable.

We ended up going back to the lab that conducted the experiments and found out our DNA had been fused with seahorse genes. As it turns out, they are the only species where the males actually get pregnant. So while other people got all these cool traits and abilities -- I got male pregnancy!

Like a Frankenstein

What To Do Next

Gary waited on the bench for an hour before Betsy finally arrived. The entire time he waited stuck in her body was uncomfortable, but he was so relieved when she finally showed up, he overlooked her tardiness.

“Thank God,” He said, “Now we can finally search for a way to swap our bodies back.”

“I don’t think so,” Betsy retorted, “I’m enjoying your body.”

“But people will get suspicious...my wife will figure it out in a second...and my job!”

“I told your wife. She doesn’t care that I’m the one in here now, and from what she tells me, your job isn’t that hard -- no matter how you try to make it sound like it is.”

And so Betsy left, leaving Gary sitting there alone once more. He had no idea what to do next.

Explore Together

Mark and Jan were the young couple who moved into the house next door in July, and my wife and became fast friends -- even though our kids had recently graduated and they were just looking to start a family. Jan and my wife started going to the same book club; Mark and I would watch the game together on Sunday.

When the Great Shift happened, I ended up in Jan’s body while Mark ended up in my wife’s. I wasn’t exactly comfortable being a woman, but there were worse swaps than ending up in the body of a good friend.

It only got weird several weeks later once the season restarted. Mark and I were hanging out when he made a suggestion to “explore together.” He told me it wouldn’t be cheating -- he’d be with his wife, and I would be with mine...technically. He had even told me he asked Jan, and she was okay with it.

She may have been...I was certainly not!