The Great Blip

My girlfriend, Mei, and I were on a walk when we were blinded by a flash of light. When I turned to look to see if Mei was alright, all that was left was a pile of clothes where she once was. Except I soon realized the clothes were mine, and I had somehow become my own girlfriend! I had gone from being a 6 foot tall white guy to a 5 foot tall Asian woman.

It seemed like something out of a comic book movie, except half of the population didn’t just blip away. The half whose bodies disappeared ended up inhabited the bodies of those who remained -- hence how I became my own girlfriend. My story was fairly simple; I just gathered up my clothes and returned to the apartment she and I shared. Maybe it was something about having her hormones or maybe I was just truly sad, but I found myself crying for days. I knew other people had it worse; I saw it on the news. There were plane crashed and nuclear accidents. I knew my situation was relatively fine, but I was still sad. I was sad my girlfriend was gone, yet I’d be reminded of that every second for the rest of my life...

Shortcut (Part 1)

Jeff had been riding his skateboard back to his dorm from campus, taking a shortcut through a condo unit that had sprung up recently when he felt a sharp pain in his back. For a minute, he had worried he had really hurt himself; thinking back to the warnings his parents gave about wearing a helmet that he had promptly ignored once going off to college. But nothing felt broken; it was more like an ache. And he realized he was now inside of a condo instead of out on the sidewalk. And he looked at his hands, which now seemed wrinkled; he wasn’t in pain from being hurt, it was just age! But why was he old? And why were his nails painted? These weren’t old versions of his own hands; these hands belonged to someone else! A woman! An older woman! And yet he seemed to be in control of these hands! What the heck had happened? How did he go from a young college guy one minute to a woman old enough to have wrinkles on her hands the next?

The Chamber

My friend Robert asked me to step into the strange chamber in his basement. I asked what it did, but he only answered with the statement, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I wasn’t totally sure if I could trust him, but my curiosity got the better of me. I mean, my friend had a strange chamber in the corner of his basement!

And so I stepped in, there was a flash of light, and I stepped out. Everything felt strange and it seemed my perspective changed. Had I gotten shorter? Robert seemed absolutely floored.

“Holy crap!” He exclaimed, “It worked.”

“What worked?” I asked suddenly noticing the cute-sounding voice I now had. The fact that I had become a woman quickly became very apparently.

“The machine can change anything: your body, your mind, your clothes, your personality.” Robert explained, “I turned you into my dream girlfriend.”

Despite knowing I was really a guy; it seemed that Robert did, in fact, place in my mind that I was his girlfriend. It was hard to object, but I did. “I am NOT your girlfriend,” I demanded, “Or, I mean, I am...or I was...but I’m breaking up with you!” This was hard for me, because that jerk had used the machine to also make me love him, but I wasn’t an idiot; I knew he had used the machine to manipulate my mind.

I heard him mumble, “a few more adjustments,” before he talked to me more directly, “Sorry! Enough fun. Just get back into the chamber, and I’ll get you back to normal.”

The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in this body, but at this point, I knew I couldn’t trust Robert in the slightest...

Working (Part 2)

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The decades continued to drag on, and Bruno continued to work for the company for anoher hundred years. He continued to get his parts replaced as well. In recent years, robotic parts had gotten more expensive while human parts fell in price. As a result, he was probably more human than he had been for two hundred years. And the parts coming in were now almost exclusively female. It always troubled to think about the economics of why human parts -- and, in particular, female parts -- were cheaper. He did consider himself lucky to still have a robotic hand, however. It wasn’t his original; he had gotten an upgrade about ten years ago, but he wasn’t sure if he could ever deal with having human hands again. They were just too squishy, soft, and weird -- much like he felt like his body was now!

Dirty Laundry (Part 4)

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On the other side of things, May was absolutely devistated being inside the body of Mike’s father. The idea that she was a middle aged man now was just an absolutely depressing thought. The fact that they had no idea how the swapping even happened made her feel like swapping back was hopeless. Maybe if she could talk to someone about all this, she might be able to feel better, but they had all agreed to keep it a secret. The day at work hadn’t been bad so far. She had mostly kept her head down -- though she was digusted going into the men’s bathroom. But what would she do when she had to go home and see Mike’s mom?

Practicing

“What the hell are you doing?” Roberta asked Tony.

“Well, I figured because it doesn’t seem like anyone is reversing the Great Shift any time soon, I should learn how to do some basic woman stuff, like walking in heels.” Tony replied.

“By working out in them? You’re going to break my neck.”

“It’s technically my neck now! And I figured I should go as hard as possible to train myself. Besides, it’s not so bad! It’s almost as if your body has a certain natural balance or muscle memory or something. This should be no problem at all.”

“I’m not looking forward to seeing all the bruises you’ll be putting on my body, but I’m still going to laugh at you as you fall on your butt. So, by all means, begin the workout; I could use some good entertainment right about now...”

Hide Away (Part 1)

After the accident at the office, a decison was made to send everyone home. Of course, few people wanted to go home due to the fact that the accident had swapped their bodies with someone else in the office. Most went off in pairs to discuss their plans with the person they had swapped with. Jason and Laura found themselves in a nearby park. Jason sent down on a bench as Laura paced.

“They said they should have it fixed in two weeks,” Jason mused, “I think I can handle being in your body for two weeks. Should we keep it secret? Not tell the people we know?”

Laura sighed, “I don’t think you can handle my body for two minutes! And you wouldn’t be able to fool anyone! I mean, even the way you just sat down! I’m certainly glad I wasn’t wearing a skirt or dress today! Even just seeing the way you move and walk in my body...no one’s going to believe you’re even a woman, let alone me!”

“I’m supposed to sit and move in a certain way? Like how? I didn’t notice anything odd in the way you’re moving my body.”

“Because I’m making an effort to move like a guy! And I think you don’t even notice the differences! But women have to put a lot of thought in the ways we move and act. Maybe you just hide away in my apartment for the next two weeks!”

The Real Location

It didn’t make any sense, but the room was empty! Only two weeks ago, Craig had been in this room, and it was filled wall-to-wall with some of the most advanced tech he had ever seen. That tech was so advanced that it was able to rip his brain ou of this original body and dump it into this woman!

It had taken him time to track down the location in order to get back here, but not so long that they’d be able to move all of that equipment without a trace. He was sure this was the place. He remembered the landscaping on the outside, the number on the building, even the inside looked right except for the missing equipment.

But as he stood there, it dawned on him. If they had been able to palce his mind into a different body, perhaps they were capable of even more. As they transfered his mind, could they have altered some memories about where they had brought him? He remembered many the details of being brought here, but could he remembered the things he saw when he was escorted out with this body? Perhaps there were some other clues that would help him figure out the real location of the facility in the hopes that he might actually be able to get his original body back...

Loving Wife (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Loving Wife.

Peter really wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself at first. For the first day, he just sat at home watching television, which he realized wasn’t exactly the best way to spend his time in the body of his own wife, that she had gifted him for the week. He eventually got himself up and headed to the mall, hoping for any ideas.

And the ideas started to come, but the problem was that anything he wanted to do, he wanted to do with Ayumi. But she was lying in the bed at the hospital in his body right now.

He decided he was going to go back to the hospital to demand they switch back. While he appreciated it, a final week of feeling alive didn’t mean much without her by her side.

And that’s when his cell phone rang.

It was the hospital. It seems his body had taken a sudden turn for the worse. He tried to rush as fast as he could, so he could use the charm to swap back. But by the time he arrived he was already too late. Ayumi had passed on while she was in his body, and now he was stuck in her body forever.

Parent-Teacher Conference

Henry’s son had recently started school, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since his wife passed away, affording daycare on a single dad’s salary had been expensive. His son would come home each day with a smile. All seemed well.

But a month in, the teacher scheduled a regular parent-teacher conference with each individual parent. She began to explain how Henry’s son was struggling due to the loss of his mother. It was hard for a kid without a female role model. Henry explained between work and taking care of his son, Henry had no time to date. The teacher was certainly sympathetic.

As things wrapped up, a weird flash engulfed the classroom. The next thing Henry realized, he had swapped bodies with his son’s teacher! They were both confused, but they quickly decided they would both go back to Henry’s house. Trying to decide what to do next would be a challenge. Henry for sure didn’t know anything about being a teacher, and the teacher was worried about how she was going to act as a father to Henry’s son. The next few days were sure going to be strange.

Homeless

It was fairly common after the Great Shift for people to get in touch with the people they swapped with. Susan was, of course, quite curious as to who ended up with her body; however, they never got in touch, and they hadn’t registered in the database set up for people to connect. A few months later, she found out why.

She was walking down the street and saw a very familar-looking homeless woman. It was her original body! Wearing dirty rags and looking very unshowered, but it was her body without a doubt! She immediately wanted to help this person, but it turned out to be quite difficult. They already had been a homeless man with mental issues before the Shift and being suddenly in a new body with a new gender had just made everything even worse. Susan was sad to see her former body in such a condition, and it distressed her to come to the conclusion that there was little she could do.

Expose (Part 4)

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Amy and the janitor returned that night, and Dr. Baxter let them in through a back door. Amy noticed the janitor had changed her clothes and couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable that he had done so. They went down to the basement, and Dr. Baxter prepped the machine once again. Amy was getting used to the flashing light by this point.

Once again, she was sure she was not in her own body. She was in a warm bed with what felt like a thick furry blanket on her. Everything looked quite large. Then her heart sank as she realized what body she was in; she was the dog from yesterday.

She jumped up and tried to rush back down to the elevator. Running on all four was difficult to adapt to, and she was much smaller than she was used to. Without any thumbs or fingers, she was unable to properly press the buttons. She looked for stairs.

Instead, she found herself in the main server room. It seemed her own body had apparently gotten up here somehow. It was walking around on all fours and panting. She could only guess that just as her brain was inside the dog’s body, the dog’s brain must be inside of hers!

The Day (Part 4)

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Jason was pleased that Matthew’s plan had worked, and he made it through the day without getting Amy fired. He returned to have dinner at the house. As they ate, both Jason told Matthew he hoped he would wake up back in his own body and that Amy would wake up in hers. Neither had heard from Amy, and they weren’t sure if that was a hopeful sign things would be back to normal or a worrisome one.

Regardless, they also had to discuss what they would do if Jason was stuck in Amy’s body. He couldn’t keep Amy’s job, for starters. Would they stay married? Matthew told Jason he would at least until the jon situation could be worked out. Jason promised to be respectful of Amy’s body, but couldn’t promise to act too “lady like.” After dinner, they watched on television before going to bed, both really hoping the next morning things would be back to normal.

I'm Sorry

“I totally understand why you’ve had me do this, Mayumi,” Doug explained, “But the Great Shift happened three months ago. If they were going to find a way to reverse everyone’s body swaps, they would’ve announced it by now. I think maybe it’s time to move on. You probably need to accept that your body is now mine. You should probably stop coming over here to blindfold me every morning and force me to put on a swimsuit just so I can take a shower. It’s weird; I probably don’t get this body as clean as I should; and I have to start being able to accept that this is my body now as well. You’re preventing me from truly doing that. I realize the body you go kind of sucks, and I’m sorry. I know you had hope you’d get this body back soon enough. But it’s appears that’s not happening; that’s not going to happen. These bodies are our now. Mine is yours, and yours is, well, that...”

Tennis, Anyone?

I felt something woosh by me quite fast and I looked around, realizing I was on a tennis court. I had no idea how I had gotten there when a man’s voice spoke.

“Babe,” He said, “Are you okay? That was an easy one. I’m surprised I’m winning for once.”

The man appeared to be in his early 60s, and he was calling me babe? Who did he think I was? That’s when I looked down to see a very female body instead of my own.

“I think I just need to rest for a second,” I said, “And use the restroom.”

I reluctantly walked into the women’s restroom, guessing that’s where I should go considering the body I was in. I was much younger than I would have imagined, given the age of the man who was probably this woman’s husband. I was probably some sort of golddigger...or a trophy wife...or...ugh, I didn’t want to think about any of it. But I really wasn’t going to be able to avoid it...

A Copy

Garret had been texting his girlfriend for 30 minutes telling her to meet him in the restroom. Abby felt pretty disgusted by the text messages, thinking that he was trying to hook up in a gross bathroom. He pleaded more and more before she finally gave in and agreed to meet him. She was planning on using the moment to finally break it off, but instead found herself shocked by what she saw when she opened the door.

“Why do you look exactly like me?” Abby asked.

“I honestly have no clue,” Garret replied, “It just sort of happened as I was washing my hands. I was hoping you might have some answers actually. Like, maybe I was a bad boyfriend and you’re trying to punish me?”

“I wouldn’t know where to begin on any supernatual stuff like this! And even if I could, I wouldn’t exactly be comfortable with you walking around with my body...even a copy of my body!”

“I’m not either! And I am certainly a complete copy. I even checked, you know, down there.”

Abby sighed, “...And that’s exactly what I’m talking about...”

It's Not the Same

I wrote this as a gentle reminder that enjoying dressing up in drag is not the same thing as being trans and is not the same thing as sexual preference (which is also not the same thing as having fantasies of men turning into women). But we should all support one another. Love. <3

Jay had been doing drag for about ten years before the Great Shift happened. Suddenly, instead of being a man who dressed up as a woman, he was now an actual woman! It was such a rush of excitement and wonder. It all felt so great at first; he began to wonder if he had been trans this entire time? He had never stopped to consider it before, but maybe the Shift was the opportunity to!?

He decided to put on one of his favorite drag outfits and head to the bar. But it all felt so wrong, and he realized why very quickly. The reason he had never felt trans in all those years of doing drag was because he wasn’t trans. He was a man who liked to dress as a woman, and now he was stuck in an actual woman’s body. He always knew there was a difference, but now he was experiencing it in a way he could never imagine. He wanted his old body back! He didn’t want to be a woman! He wanted to keep being a guy in drag! Yet, there didn’t seem to be any way to reverse the effects of the Great Shift...

Thirty Days

Brent looked nervously around the bar. Then he looked down at himself. Should he have worn a more revealing outfit? Maybe he should’ve put on thicker makeup? It didn’t matter anymore. This was his last chance. Twenty nine days ago, he had picked up this woman at a bar and then woke up the next day in her body. She had left a note explaining he had thirty days to sleep with someone else or he’d be trapped in the woman’s body forever. He didn’t want to sleep with a guy, but he didn’t want to be stuck as a woman either! He had gone out to bars each night, but he often found he was too shy to really seal the deal. So this evening was going to be his last chance. If he didn’t hook up with someone tonight, he’d have to deal with the fact that he was going to have this body for good.

Antiques (Part 3)

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The days working in the antique shop were long. Almost no one ever came in, and when they did, they rarely bought anything. Most items seemed cheap, and the store was open for twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Kevin couldn’t imagine how the store stayed in business. He supposed it helped that there were no employees. Ming, the store’s owner and the woman Kevin swapped bodies with, just sort of sat there all day, which is now what Kevin had to do when he was inside her body.

It got worse after work. Ming had insisted not telling her husband about the swap. That meant Kevin had to prepare a dinner and hear how Ming’s husband insist on him performing “womanly” duties. Most of the times, he said he was too tired; sometimes that excuse didn’t work. Each day between work and home, Kevin would meet up with Ming and ask about finding an artifact to swap them back. But each and every day, there was still no progress...

Always

James had a crush on Aimi their freshmen year at college. She was a bit of a shy woman, but James went out of his way to become friends with her. He never confessed his feelings; the closest he ever came was tell her that she had a nice body that she shouldn’t cover it up so much.

Things got weird junior year when a strange accident in the school’s laboratories caused about a hundred students and staff to switch bodies. By chance, James ended up in Aimi’s body, which Aimi ended up in the body of a 40 year old male professor.

James began to dress Aimi’s body is crop tops and short skirts, which embarrassed Aimi. She held it inside for a while before she finally yelled at him.

James was taken aback. “I always said you had a nice body! I just wanted to show it off,” He admitted and finally confessed, “And I like you. I’ve always liked you. I still like you.”

Then he leaned over and kissed her, despite her now being in the body of a 40 year old man.

Impossible

Curtis woke up surrounded by weird technology that seemed to come from some sort of sci-fi movie. The bed he was on was like a hard piece of plastic. When he stood up, he felt awkward and off balance; it only took a few moments before he realized he was in a woman’s body. His jaw nearly dropped when the alien entered the room.

“I see you’ve awoken,” The alien said, “I hope everything is alright.”

“It’s not alright! This isn’t my body!” Curtis screamed at the alien.

The alien seemed taken aback. “All human bodies seemed fundamentally the same. We did extensive investigation, which is how yours was damaged. We scanned others of your species on the ground to make copies of the various parts your species has. They didn’t seem much different from what we scanned.”

“Oh, the parts are different! You’d better believe the parts are different! You need to change me back to normal.”

“I am afraid that is...impossible.”

New Program (Part 1)

Adam had put on more than a few pounds since turning 40, and so he decided to sign up for a new program at his local gym that promised anyone could lose weight effortlessly. It turned out the program utilized new body swapping technology. To get his body in shape, he’d be swapping with a trainer for three weeks, so that they could embrace an intense workout routine; and then he’d come back one a week for an hour to swap in order to maintain that physique.

Adam signed on the line, and then went to meet his trainer. He was quite taken aback that it was a woman! He couldn’t believe he’d be in her body for the next three weeks! She was, of course, in very good shape, and asked him if he read the rules about how to take care of her body. He nodded, saying it was in the contract, and then they were hooked up to the body swapping machine. In short order, they became each other. Adam smiled awkwardly as he said goodbye to his trainer and his body. What was he going to do with himself for three weeks in this body?

Short Circuit

The last time Ethan had used this helmet, his wife Gwendolyn was sitting by his side wearing the other one. They caused the two to swap bodies, and they agreed to stay swapped for a week. They were both excited to experience what it would be like in the other’s body, but after a few days, Ethan was eager to get back to normal. Unfortunately, a tragic car accident killed Gwendolyn in Ethan’s body before they were able to swap back.

But Ethan realized he had to give it a try. Maybe a copy of his wife’s consciousness was still somewhere buried deep inside this body, and maybe the helmets could bring her back. This might kill his own consciousness, but he had to try. However, with only one helmet in use, it began to short circuit with sparks flying all around Ethan. He wasn’t sure this was going to work in the first place, but now he worried something dangerous would happen...

It Started with a Cough (Part 2)

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For the rest of the day, Dr. Fielding was mostly worried about his nurse, and why she suddenly seemed to lose her mind. He didn’t notice the slight cough he was developing. As the rode the train home from the city to the suburbs, it got a little bit worse. When he finally arrived home and greeted his wife, he let out a much bigger cough.

Much like how his nurse had described earlier, his soul seemed to escape from him. It entered his wife’s body, and Dr. Fielding took control.He watched as his own body turned to dust before his eyes. It was all exactly as his nurse had told him! It was real, and he was now in the body of his own wife! He had to try to contact his nurse... or Mr. Baldwin? Then he realized whatever she had must have been contageous, and he had just been coughing for the past hour on his commute. There’s no telling how many people he had spread this strange body swapping virus to!

Last One Left

Jason was returning to Earth. The mission to colonize another planet had failed. They didn’t even get halfway there when they were attacked by the alien -- even if they didn’t know it at first.

The alien was able to swap people’s bodies around, and take the form of anyone on the ship. Then it would go about systematically killing the crew one-by-one. While Jason’s body was among the first to die, he lived on, constantly being switched from person to person by the alien. It became a process of elimination when he was the last of two left. The other living human had to be the alien, which he promptly killed. This left him alone on the ship floating back to Earth in the body of a woman named Ling Choi. Explaining it all was going to be tough, but he knew that if humanity hoped to get further out, they were going to need a plan to beat this thing. And he could only hope his return to Earth wouldn’t lead more body swapping aliens straight back to home.

That's Easy for You to Say (Part 2)

View Part 1 of That's Easy for You to Say.

“...Because from where I’m sitting, Doc, being old sucks,” Brad explained.

“Surely, you can think of some benefits of your new body?” Doctor Wagner pressed Brad.

“Like what? I can get the senior citizen discount anywhere I go without question? I’m really not sure that’s much of a seeling point when I’ve lost more than forty years of life! Not to mention the fact that my entire body aches, I’m tired all the time, and I need to take more pills each day than I think I have taken prior to all this in my entire life! And I have to deal with all while adjusting to being a woman too! Like I said, Doc, hearing how people take you slightly less seriously because you’re a super hot babe now doesn’t make me feely any better.”

That's Easy for You to Say (Part 1)

Doctor Wagner was having trouble with many of his patients since the Great Shift. Many of them were simply very depressed. Today, for instance, he was sitting with a young man he had been seeing for about a year before the Shift.

“The Great Shift was a change for all of us, Brad,” Doctor Wagner explained, “I understand how difficult it is to adapt to being a woman. I mean, just look at me! I have found it be to quite uncomfortable at times, but I am managing, and you can too!”

“That’s easy for you to say!” Brad scoffed, “When I used to come here, I talked to a 70-year-old man. Now I’m speaking with a young, hot Asian chick.”

“Youth isn’t all its cracked up to be. I have had several patients drop simply because they can’t take me seriously anymore.”

“Well, I’d much rather be in your shoes...”

Outta Here

“You can’t seriously expect me to go through with this whole wedding thing in your body, Amber,” her ex-boyfriend, Victor protested, “I came here to confess that I still love you, that I never should’ve broken up with you, and that you shouldn’t marry Tad. And once I finish, just as you’re about to respond, we end up swapping bodies somehow! And now you expect me to go out there in your body and marry Tad in your place? I hate the guy’s guts! I’ll surely gag when it’s time to kiss. Maybe this whole thing is a sign anyway! There was no way you’d ever run out on your own wedding, but now that I’m you, I can run out for you! You can’t force me to marry him, and you can’t stop me from leaving! I’m doing it, Amber! I’m outta here!”

Attention

Eric was walking by a playground when he noticed some children playing wildly. He normally wouldn’t get involved, but he was pretty sure they were going to get hurt, and the mother standing there just didn’t seem to care.

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” He said to her, “I think your children might need your attention.”

“They ain’t my kids,” The woman replied.

“Well, if you aren’t the mother, then you must be the nanny or an aunt or something?”

“Nope.”

“But you’re the only adult here!”

“Well, you’re here. Why don’t YOU look after them? I just got here myself. I had just been sitting in a class at my college, watching soem boring demonstration, and then ZAP! I’m here in the park. I’m some old, fat woman! I’m a dude on a track scholarship, and now instead I’m some old, fat woman! So, you see, I got enough of my own problems instead of worrying about some damned kids. I’m just trying to figure out which way the university is from here.”

Eventually (Part 4)

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Preston came back after spring break with a new confidence and better attitude. Victoria began to notice that he was going out to places besides class. And when on the rare instance when he was home, he’d often be wearing revealing clothing. And once she realized the bad news she had to give him, she wondered if maybe he wouldn’t consider it so bad any more.

For a week solid, Preston had been coming home after Victoria went to bef and leaving before she woke up. In fact, when she was finally able to catch him, he was coming home from a night out at about 8AM. He was wearing a low cut pink top and a short leather skirt.

She nervously broke the news that there was no way for her to reverse the swap. Something happened where their minds had gotten set and stuck in each other’s bodies.

Preston put his hand on his hip. “It’s okay,” He said, “I’ve gotten used to this. I’m not even sure I’d WANT to go back anymore even if we could.”

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. She had felt so bad about everything, but she was pleased Preston was now finally happy in her body.

Miscalculated (Part 5)

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Harvey found an old blackboard in the basement of the resort, which seemed doubly good -- as Marc’s dad would likely not come down here, and he could run over his calculations. The strange thing was that without Marc’s dad being a creep every five minutes, he was actually enjoying himself. Marc’s mom was old enough to be his mom, but she was in much better shape than his own mom. He smiled as he thought of playing a prank on Marc by sending him a completely inappropriate video, but he ultimately decided against it as he went back to focusing on his work.

It seems he had miscalculated. Instead of being in this body for a few hours, Harvey was going to be stuck in the body of Marc’s mom for two months! He was going to have to avoid Marc’s awful dad for two whole months! He quickly went back to work in order to try and find a way to speed that up...

Changes (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Changes.

Jim arrived at the beach feeling exhausted from the run. He had been in pretty good shape, so he could only assume that along with his race and gender, his athleticism had swapped with someone as well. Another issue soon arose. If his wife had experienced the swaps like everyone else, how would he even be able to recognize her?

Fortunately, he didn’t have to. After walking around aimlessly for a bit, he heard his name being shouted. He turned to see a man laying there wearing his wife’s bikini (and still filling the top out nicely with the bottoms now being filled out in a manly way). Much like everyone else besides Jim, she was thinking this was all perfectly normal. As Jim took a seat next to his wife, he tried to think of a way to convince her of everything that wouldn’tmake him seem crazy.

Nerdy Stuff

Adam rushed back into the lab as fast as he could. He looked straight into the eyes of his own body and asked, “Please tell me you didn’t touch anything.”

“Naw,” His own body replied, “And why do you have my face?”

“If you haven’t figured it out yet, you have mine as well,” He explained to the woman he had swapped bodies with, “The experiment should have been confined to this lab, but seeing as you and I swapped bodies, well, clearly it was not.”

“Well, I don’t want to be in some nerd’s body, and I don’t want some nerd in my body neither. Can you fix it?”

“I think so.” Adam went to the computer to look at the logs. Typing with the fake nails that were on his fingers proved to be an unexpected challenge for him. In an instant, an incorrect key was pressed, resulting in a massive data loss. What should have been fixed in a few minutes would now likely take days. And he was going to be stuck in this woman’s body in the meantime. He wasn’t happy about that, and he was absolutely certain she wouldn’t be either.

Tea Party

I wish my mom never had another kid. I was fifteen when my sister Maddie was born; don’t most parents stop once their kids are that old? I have nothing against siblings either! It’s just that Maddie is pure evil. I don’t mean that in a mean way either! I actually love my little sister a lot, but she has literal magic powers that I can only describe as evil. We first noticed them when she was around four years old. Anything she said or wanted could become reality. The only saving grace seemed to be the power didn’t work when she was having a temper tantrum.

That being said, even coming from a good place could quickly become a nightmare. I was off at college when she was six, but she wanted me to attend a tea party. And then she wanted me to wear a pretty pink dress. And then she wanted me to be a princess for a far off land. Sure enough, that’s exactly who I became.

I played along (it was usually easier to play along). At the end I asked, “Can I go back to being your brother now?”

Maddie thought about it for a long time, and finally said, “No.”

And now I’ve been attending her daily tea parties in between the task of running a small, distant country as a princess.

Working (Part 1)

Bruno had started working at the factory in his early 20s. He worked hard, but in an unfortunate accident, his hand got crushed by a machine. The company, however, had an interesting benefit and offered to replace Bruno’s hand with a robotic part. It was weird having a robotic hand, but he found that he could actually do some things better than before (and it had no danger of being crushed). As he aged and his health faded, the company offered to replace more parts, often times these were robotic parts but sometimes they were bilogical transplants from other humans. The company didn’t allow Bruno to be picky. Everything just kept getting replaced, even as he aged. After 150 years working there, Bruno realized the human parts were more female than male, and he was easily more machine than man. He often dreamed of retiring, but the replacement parts weren’t free. He could never afford to stop working. He just had to keep going like this forever.

Dirty Laundry (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Dirty Laundry.
View Part 2 of Dirty Laundry.

Meanwhile, Mike’s dad was having a great time inside the body of Mike’s girlfriend, May. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so young and alive. Of course, this was likely due to the fact that he actually was several decades younger now. The fact that he was a woman now barely phased him. For the most part, he didn’t even think about it (except when a few frat guys made rude comments at him). Heck, he realized he wouldn’t even be sad if he stayed like this forever. At least, as far as he was concerned. He did realize it was unfair to Mei for him to keep this body if he had any way of giving it back. But, as of right now, that wasn’t even an option, so why not enjoy it?

Tourists

“I know that teleporting out brainwaves into the bodies of locals is way cheaper than flying, but did you know they were going to put us both in women’s bodies when you booked it?” Robert asked his wife.

“Women’s bodies here were significantly cheaper,” Betsy explained, “Maybe you’ll learn to appreciate me better being like that for a few weeks while we try to truly embrace the culture here. It also feels nice to be the taller one for a bit! Not that you’re new little body isn’t cute as well!”

“Oh, shut up. I know you’re loving this, but I hate it. I’m just thankful she had a few button up shirts and pants in her wardrobe.”

Enlightening

Ronald was running home in a rainstorm with his umbrella, but the lightning struck without warning. An identical incident was happening across town with a woman named Lisa. The lightning seems to scramble the electrical pathways in their brains, and now Ronald was essentially in Lisa’s body and Lisa was now in Ronald’s.

Ronald screamed in terror at the fact that he was now in a woman’s body, and hearing the high pitched tone of his own screams only made him more horrified. The lightning around him continued to intensify, but another bolt never struck his umbrella, leaving him stuck in Lisa’s body after the storm had passed.

Only One

Henry thought the Great Shift might have been easier for him if he wasn’t the only one he knew who ended up in a body that was overweight. But no, it seemed like everyone he knew ended up in a body that was not only slim but also really attractive.

His best friend, Jim, for instance? He found out the body he was now in used to be a model before the Shift. He had even gotten an offer to walk the runway wearing a bikini for Fashion Week in her place.

His girlfriend? Or maybe he should say ex-girlfriend now? Well, she wasn’t happy to be in a guy’s body, but it was certainly a buff, attractive body. It hadn’t taken her long to think of herself as too good to be dating Henry.

And so Henry was just feeling very isolated and alone. He told himself he probably wouldn’t have minded being overweight or a woman, but it was just the steady reminders about these things from just about everyone he knew.

Loving Wife (Part 1)

Peter’s cancer came suddenly, and within a week of diagnosis he was in the hospital. The doctors gave him six months to live, and almost the entire time would be in this hospital room. His wife Ayumi was at his side, and she only slipped away while he was asleep.

At the end of the first week, she held a small charm in her hand. She told him it was magic and would allow them to swap bodies for a week. He tried to protest, but she insisted that he deserve a week outside of the hospital before he passed. Peter knew it was no use to argue; Ayumi wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Within minutes, Peter found himself walking out of the hospital in Ayumi’s body. He had a week to enjoy normal things and live a normal life -- well, as normal as he could while inside the body of his own wife!

Today's Youth

About five years ago, Edgar’s family had put him in an assisted living home. He had been brilliant in his youth, pioneering several advances in the field of biological technology. But when he began ranting about mind control and ghosts, his family became worried. When they found him in his basement with several broken bones, they knew there was no choice.

However, Edgar’s rants were actually based on a solid theory. And he had spent the years at the assisted living home building a device that would allow him to swap into a different, younger body. He didn’t want to test with anyone inside the home, so he aimed it ransomly out the window. And it worked!

He looked down at his body. He had taken over the body of a young woman. He really couldn’t understand the fashion of today’s youth or the wild way she dressed, but he decided it was best to keep up the appearance as to not draw any undue attention to himself. If this is how she dressed before, this is how he would dress now, even if he did think it was weird. And now that he’d proved his device could work, he’d have to build another one. After all, he wanted to stay as far away from that assisted living home as possible.

Retreat Activity

It seems this couples retreat would be much more interesting than Jerry would have ever anticipated. Both he and his wife had heard rumors about how the retreat used very unique techniques to strengthen relationships. They had no idea one of those techniques included swapping bodies! They didn’t even swap bodies with each other; they had each swapped with another random person at the retreat. One of the activities was finding your partner no matter what body they ended up in. And there were no guarantees about the type of body anyone ended up in. Jerry, for instance, was now a woman.

For some men, this might be a dead giveaway. But when his wife was out of town, Jerry often secretly dressed up in women’s clothes, put on makeup, and was generally skilled at doing much of what it took to be a woman. Maybe that would be the groundbreaking start for the rest of the weekend. That is, if they could even get passed the first task of figuring out which body each other was in.

Expose (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Expose.
View Part 2 of Expose.

Dr. Baxter finished working just before dawn and turned to Amy, “I think it’s ready. There’s certainly risk involved. Do you still want to try?”

Amy nodded, and Dr. Baxter powered the machine up. It seemed to be whirring and sputtering this time. When the flash happened this time, Amy passed out.

She awoke a litle later, but she was unfortunately still inside Dr. Baxter’s body. Her own body seemed to be missing. She heard a noise and went to investigate. Her body was there wearing coveralls and holding a mop, cleaning the floor.

“Hola, Señor Baxter,” Her body said with a Spanish accent, “I found myself like this next to you. I tried to wake you up, but you didn’t get up. So I put on my uniform and went to work.”

It seemed a janitor was now inside Amy’s body, and luckily Dr. Baxter in the janitor’s body soon arrived.

“I must have miscalculated,” He explained, “You two both need to leave and return tonight. I can continue my work to fix things with this body. No one will ever suspect the janitor. Now, go!”

The Day (Part 3)

View Part 1 of The Day.
View Part 2 of The Day.

Over the next two hours, Jason and Matthew kept calling Jason’s phone to no avail. Matthew also helped Jason get ready for Amy’s job. He couldn’t believe he was going to be wearing a skirt all day and a bra! When Matthew said that Amy was a lawyer, Jason was a little worried. Matthew laughed and told him it shouldn’t be a problem. Any documents Amy might need today, she would have prepared well in advance, and he should simply take any new papers back home. Hopefully, they’d be able to get in touch with Amy at some point today.

Jason took a deep breath as he walked out the front door of Amy and Matthew’s house. This was going to be a long, weird day -- and it was just getting started!

Again

William told himself that it couldn’t be possible. Did he just see the magic taxi again? There was no way. It wasn’t just that no one in the journal ever mentioned seeing it a second time; it was also the fact that he was thousands of miles away from where he first swapped into this body. But maybe he was lucky? He started to run after it.

Maybe he could catch it. If he did, he could take a different body. He didn’t hate this one by any means. In fact, there were aspects about it that he absolutely loved. Being a woman, for instance, felt more right than he could’ve ever imagined. But he didn’t know much about the woman when he first got her body. He didn’t know about her troubles with immigration, nor did he know she was seeing her lawyer that day. He missed her court date and ended up getting deported.

That’s why he was here in a foreign country where he didn’t know the language. And if the magic taxi was here too? Well, it was finally a chance to go back home! But he never got the chance. The magic taxi drove faster than he could ever run. As it rounded a few corners, it was gone again.