Genius (Part 4)

View Part 1 of Genius.
View Part 2 of Genius.
View Part 3 of Genius.

The next day, Martin and his mom had a lot to discuss. Thanks to Martin’s invention, they would have to live in each other’s bodies for the next two years. His mom would have it pretty easy. Martin had mostly stayed at home tinkering on various inventions, so she could probably either stay at home doing nothing or get any number of temporary jobs. She may have had his body, but she didn’t have his social anxiety. Whatever she chose to do would be pretty easy for her.

Martin, on the other hand, would have it a lot harder. He’d have to handle his mom’s job. While he was certainly smart enough that the actual work would be no problem, the social interaction aspect of it would be more of a challenge. And while he’d be able to wear whatever around the house, like he currently was, getting dressed in women’s work clothes and putting on makeup were things he was not looking forward to. Still, he told himself how well he did last night going from club-to-club looking for his mom. He did manage to talk to people, and he did in a dress and heels! He COULD do it, even if he didn’t want to. Every day was going to be a challenge, but with one down, ther were only 729 to go until they could swap back to normal.

Forever Hold Your Peace

“I told you nothing would ever stop me from marrying you today, and I meant it,” James said looking at the woman he was about to wed, “And that includes the Great Shift and finding myself in this woman’s body over a hundred miles away. Sorry I was just a little late to the ceremony.”

“I knew you’d make it. It gave me time to alter my dress so I could fit into it now that I’m in your body.” Heather replied.

“You made my body look absolutely ridiculous, but you’ll always be beautiful to me. And in that dress, you’re the most beautiful you’ve ever been, and you’ll be more beautiful each an every day. And I am still the luckiest man...er...woman?...alive to have you by my side.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re a narcissist.”

“I’m saying that because I love you.”

There was a pause before the officiant spoke up. “Were those your vows? Very well. If anyone has any objections, speak now, or forever hold your peace.” There was another pause. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Opened the Camera App

Using the phone in his hand, Avery opened the camera app and pointed in his own direction. It was exactly what he thought: he was now in the body of a woman. He tried to look on the bright side of the body swap. He was at least an attractive woman and reasonably fit.

Questions filled his head. Was that flash of light responsible for all of this? He wasn’t far from where he had been, should he go look for his own body?

But while he asked himself these things, he hadn’t put the phone down. He was still looking at himself. Was he still in shock...or was he actually happy with this new body!?

Amusement for the Masses

I always used to love the Fictionmania story, Amusement for the Masses, and this caption is loosely inspired by it.

While Chuck and Jack were freaking out about swapping bodies with some women at the amusement park, Alan didn’t seem to care. He saw there was no line at the go-karts and went right in for a ride.

“There’s no point about freaking out about all this,” He explained to his friends, “So we’re now in the bodies of three chicks? So what? Are you really going to let it ruin your day? Besides, maybe we’ll learn something from the experience.”

“I wanted to pick up chicks, not be one!” Jack protested.

“What better way to learn? I’m sure a bunch of guys will hit on you before the day is out, then you’ll know what feels right and what feels creepy.”

“I don’t want to be hit on all day! And what good will any of that do if I’m stuck like this!?”

Alan shrugged before he got in the go-kart, “Sulk all you want, I guess. I don’t think complaining is going to do us any good. So we’re women now? Really, who cares? It doesn’t change anything!”

Obvs.

“Gawd, Amber!” Tracy exclaimed, “I never thought I’d say this, but could you lay off the texting? We’ve got a party to prepare for!”

“I bet she’s texting with a boy,” Jill added.

“Oh, gawd. Is it Chad? Spill.” Tracy squealed.

“No, it’s not Chad,” Jeff replied from inside Amber’s body. After the body swap, he had been texting with Amber pretty much non-stop. This was mostly because both Jeff and Amber were trying to keep their body swap secret, and so people like Amber’s sorority sisters, Tracy and Jill, had no clue what was actually going on. Jeff added, “It’s just someone from one of my classes. We have a pretty intense group assignment.” He checked the phone again for more advice from Amber about what to say and added, “But the party is my priority, obvs.”

“Total obvs.” Jill stated, “And priority number two is finding a guy to ravage that lonely snatch of yours.”

“Say what now?” Jeff replied, “No, you really don’t have to...”

“I’ll be our pleasure. You’ve been crying about being a virgin for months. This is the perfect opportunity, Gurl!”

Live News

The newsroom was abuzz. The biggest story that the world had ever seen had just happened seconds before the evening news. Now the entire team was scrambling to report on it.

“I don’t think I can do this,” The lead female news anchor said while sitting behind the desk.

“You don’t have a choice,” The producer responded, “Your live in 5...4...3...”

“Good evening,” The woman said, “I’m Alana...uh, Pearce, filling in for, uh...could someone make the teleprompter go a little slower?” She took a deep breath, “Look, I’m not Alana Pearce -- just like I’m sure many of you watching aren’t in your own body either. My name is Joe. I was just walking on the street when this whole great shifting happened, and I found myself in Alana’s body. I don’t know how to be a journalist or report on the news, but everywhere here at the network is sort of in panic mode to get information out. I get it. There’s a lot of crap we don’t know. There’s this weird earpiece in my ear with a voice that says this body swap stuff is confirmed to be in five continents so far. I guess stay tuned... Do we have some sort of commercial to roll? I gotta talk for another two minutes? Aw...hell...”

Ms. Lee

It hadn’t been easy for Dave in the weeks after the Great Shift. Every single guy in his fraternity had swapped bodies with a woman, as did Dave; however, while they all swapped into really hot bodies (mostly from the neighboring sorority), Dave had swapped bodies with his 50 year old economics professor, Ms. Lee.

He tried to stay hidden in his room. He always took his meals from the cafeteria; he used Zoom to attend classes remotely whenever possible. But Ms. Lee had recently emailed him about how her doctor had emphasized the importance of going to the gym at her age. And so Dave reluctantly headed out one morning.

Just as he was nearing the entrance, he caught sight of two of his frat brother coming his way. He quickly turned to leave, but it was too late.

“Hey, Dave!” One shouted, “What’s up?”

Dave cringed before slowly turning around, “Hey Jake. Hey Dwayne. I’m just, uh, heading to the gym.”

“Good luck. I don’t think you’re gonna be able to do anything about Ms. Lee’s flat ass. Be careful you don’t give her a heart attack. She’s ancient!”

Dave feigned a laugh before heading inside. He knew they were attempting to make fun of one of their teachers with their comments, but it was really hard not to take those attacks personally.

Experiment in the Barn

Melissa heard the equipment in the barn power down. She had a moment of hope until her husband Leo walked out, still inside the body of a woman.

“We had to shut it down,” He said flatly, “If we didn’t, we risked more dimensions bleeding and merging into our own, and likely affecting a larger radius.”

“But you’ve become...a woman.”

“Technically, I’m still myself, but a version of myself from a universe with an extra X chromosome instead of a Y. It’s better than what happened to Todd.”

Melissa said nothing, but Leo knew that meant he needed to explain.

Leo sighed, “He got completely trapped in another dimension. I might try to reach out when the background particles calm down, but I have no idea if I can pull him back. What can I tell his wife? Joan probably won’t believe it’s actually me looking like this.”

“Is there any hope of getting things back?”

“I can rescue Todd or I can get my body back to normal. I don’t think I can do both. Either way, it’ll be a few days.”

Melissa wiped her tears, “I’ll tell Joan. You focus on getting Todd back.”

Leo nodded before leaning in to hug his wife.

Mergers + Acquisition

Jackie had worked at the company for decades, working her way up through the ranks into the C-level suite. When the CEO retired, she was sure she was the head of the pack for the position. Instead, the board brought in Logan Peters to fill the role. Logan slashed everything he could while treating Jackie as if she was his own personal assistant. His plan was to grow through acquisition, yet he made Jackie do most of the work to make it happen.

Despite how Logan was running the place, she still cared about the company. She did everything in her power to keep the business strong. It was in the interest of this that she brought Logan to a tech convention where she had arranged a demonstration.

The lead researcher of the new tech instructed Logan and Jackie to sit as he arranged the equipment around their head.

“We gonna get hairdos?” Joked Logan as he laughed, “Maybe we’ll do manicures next.”

“It’s a little more in depth than that, Mr. Peters,” The researcher assured.

“Well, whatever, fire it up. We don’t have all day.”

The researcher mumbled as he hit a few switches, and Logan felt a jolt. The change was immediately noticeable as he reached up to his now beard-free face. “What the hell?” He asked before realizing, “Jackie! We’ve swapped bodies.”

Jackie smiled with all the charm and confidence that Logan usually exhumed. Now that she was the one in his body, it was easy, “Yep. But no one besides us three will ever know that. We’re gonna pay a lot of money to acquire this research, and then we’re gonna bury it. No one will ever know body swapping is possible. No one will ever know I’m not Logan Peters. I’ve got a lot to do to turn this company around from your failed policies, undoing your bad decisions and layoffs. And maybe if you play your cards right, there might still even be a place for you here...”

PooPoo

One minute I was the handsome groom cutting the cake with my new wife at my wedding, and the next I found myself sitting amongst the guests. I was in someone else’s body -- a woman’s body -- and I was wearing a dress! But it was the ugly brown sweater I wore over the dress that tipped off exactly who I was -- my wife’s younger sister, Putri.

I began to shift uncomfortably in my seat, feeling really weird about the fact that I was now a 19-year-old female.

My wife’s mother began to stare at me before whispering, “Be still. You’re making a scene, PooPoo.”

(Allow me to interrupt this story to say that, yes, her parents literally used the nickname “PooPoo” to refer to their own daughter. Look, I knew she was shy and had issues, but stealing my body so she could be married to her own sister still seemed very extreme...and, you know, completely impossible.)

“You don’t understand,” I whispered back, “I’m supposed to be up front there.”

“Aw, PooPoo, someday, I’m sure. But you’ve never had a boyfriend; that’s an important first step for landing a husband. Try being slightly more normal. It might help. And please stop trying to mess up Melati’s big day.”

I just sat their seething until I could confront Putri in my body. I was sure she was responsible, and she needed to reverse this!

The Potion in the Attic (Part 1)

Tony’s parents were pleasantly surprised when their son gave them an unexpected visit on a Thursday night. They lived about two hours away from where he went to college, but it was still a rare treat. Of course, Tony had an ulterior motive for the visit; there was a big party at his frat house tomorrow night, and he and the rest of the guys needed to find as much liquor as possible.

When Tony’s parents went to bed, he went to the liquor cabinet, but he found it was empty. Not convinced his parents would throw it all away, he began to explore the basement and then the attic. Finally, inside a box he found several bottles with liquids inside. They certainly weren’t the brands he remembered -- heck, they weren’t labeled at all -- but he was desperate.

He popped a cork to take a whiff. It had a slight boozy smell, so he took a swig. It was gross, but was it alcohol? He drank a little more, and he started to feel...something. But it wasn’t the feeling of getting drunk. It started as a sickness in the pit of his stomach. Then it got painful. It felt like his insides were rearranging -- that’s because they were -- and the pain soon spread to the outside as well. When the pain ended, he could immediately realize the changes. He had become softer and smaller. His chest had puffed out and his crotch had inversed. He still mostly looked like himself, but this weird liquid had turned him into a female vesion of himself!

Single Mom (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Single Mom.

After getting home from dinner, Evan was exhausted, but he wasn’t done. He still needed to get Christine’s daughter ready for bed. After successfully getting her to go down, he tried to use his power to swap back to his own body, but he still seemed to be stuck. He tried texting Christine yet again, but there was still no response. Given how exhausted he was, he finally decided to change into Christine’s nightgown and get in her bed.

It was then the phone finally buzzed.

Christine had sent a text apologizing, saying her phone had died. She had been hanging out with Evan’s friends and one of them, Scott, had invited them all to spend the night. She explained that she didn’t want to “seem weird” by declining. And that they could meet up in the morning.

Evan breathed a slight sigh of relief. His power wasn’t working because Christine (and therefore his body) was at Scott’s house. He didn’t want to spend the night as Christine, but he told himself that he didn’t have much choice. However, at this point, he was REALLY looking forward to getting his own body back in the morning...

Nosey

After the two had swapped bodies at the discount store where they both worked, Jessa and Evan had to give each other a rundown about their how to live each other’s lives outside of work. Jessa and explained how she lived with her grandmother and gave a warning about how proding and nosey she could be. No amount of warning could really do it justice.

The next day, Jessa and Evan both had off and were planning to get together to discuss trying to swap back. Evan, of course, wasn’t going to get to leave without a long conversation.

“Where are you going?” Jessa’s grandmother asked.

“Out,” Eva replied, hoping less information would mean he could hide any details that might reveal he wasn’t Jessa.

“To see a boy?”

“What?”

“I went through your phone and see lots of calls with someone named Evan. It would be good for you to get married and have babies. You’re practically an old maid.”

“I’m 22.”

“I had both your uncles before I was 22. Are you close to this Evan?”

“You could say that, but I really need to get going...”

But the questions from Jessa’s grandma didn’t stop...

A Quick Escape

When the Great Shift first happened, it was like the world stood still for a moment. There was an eerie calm that fell over many usually crowded locations as the realizations of being in a new body settled in.

Daniel found himself in the body of an attractive woman in a busy city park. He soon noted the calm building to a dull murmur as people began to ask questions and connect with their original bodies. But that murmur began to grow louder, slowly becoming a thunderous cacophony shouts and screams.

Then just a few feet away from him, a punch was thrown. This seemed to set off a powder keg of people fighting each other. Daniel wanted no part of any of this. Not only was he not the fighting type, he didn’t think this new body of his would hold up well in a fight. Not that getting away was exactly easy either! He wasn’t used to the high heels on his feet, but he didn’t have much time to learn. If he tripped and fell, he could find himself overwhelmed by the violence that was quickly surrounding him. Somehow he made his way out safely from the chaos of the situation.

Talented Young Apprentice

“Well, this is very unusual,” The old man mused, “Not only did you find my shoppe again, but you are here to thank me for your purchase? And yet you seem to lucid and aware of everything that happened to you? Were you not bothered by transforming into a woman?”

Jason shrugged, “Why would I be? There’s nothing wrong with being a woman; I quite prefer it. And unlike most of your customers, I actually sought you out. The reputation of Spell’R’Us is legendary. But the really big difference is that I’m not some novice. I may have hidden it from you when we first met, but magic practically runs in my blood. I could simply split the elements of the magic apart -- let myself become female without also becoming some dumb bimbo.”

“But...the magic cannot be destroyed. The bimbo part -- the stupidity -- it had to go somewhere.”

“Oh, it did. And I’m sure you might be feeling a little less...sharp? It’s not usual for someone even a fraction of your age. What are you now? A thousand? Two? A little dimentia is probably long overdue...”

“Why you little, cun---”

“Talented young apprentice? I surely am. And I will happily assist you in your shop as your mind slowly fades from you, and take it over when you retire, which you should consider sooner rather than later, to enjoy the time you have left...”

The S Constant

“In the four years since the Great Shift, we’ve done tremendous research on the event,” Professor Gerald Watts, the country's preeminent mathematician on the matter, lectured in front of his college class, “We haven’t been able to figure out exactly why it happened or how to swap anyone back, but we can predict with 95% present accuracy which body someone would swap into.

“For instance,” He continued pointing to a student in the third row, “Why did I swap into the body of the young woman sitting in that seat right there? Why didn’t she swap into my 60 year old body? Instead, an athlete from the football team sitting way in the back did. It seems to be a function of what we’re calling the S constant. But a lot of variables act on the S constant, and certain factors act upon it, including distance, neuron function, and environmental factors. I’ll get into the details in the next few classes, but I will share the wildest spoiler for all this: We may be due for a second Shift some time in the future. We don’t know when yet though. It may be five years from now, or it may be in five million...”

The Long Road into Town (Part 3)

Part 1 of The Long Road into Town.
Part 2 of The Long Road into Town.

By the time Barney arrived, morning had broken. He walked into the diner on the edge of town in a distressed state.

“Someone get this girl some coffee and some hotcakes,” The waitress shouted as she ushed Barney to a seat and put a cup of coffee in front of him.

“I don’t have any money on me,” Barney replied.

“It’s on me, Hon. I don’t know what you went through last night, but it looks like hell. You deserve it.”

“There was a fire, and I can’t find someone.”

“County got that forest fire under control,” A trucker at a neighboring table interjected, “Heard it on the scanner. Also heard about a guy they found being sent to the hospital. Could be him? Your dad or something?”

“I’m not that old.” Barney realized his mistake, “I mean, he’s not that much older than me. About five years or so.”

“Well, after your done here, I’ll drive you over, and you can go see. Might want to get yourself checked out as well. My name’s Fred, by the way.”

“I’m B-Bar-,” Barney realized he was about to mess up again,”I’m Joanne.” Hearing himself say it aloud still felt so unreal, so he said it again but slightly softer, “I’m Joanne.”

Defensive Driving

It was quite difficult for Dustin to process what happen when the Great Shift blinded him with a flash of light. He suddenly saw two manicured hands with skin much darker than his own grasping the steering wheel of a car. He could barely process how different they were from his own as he dodged chaotic traffic. His heeled feet weren’t quite hitting the pedals as he expected, and the bare legs beneath a short leather skirt were a distraction as well.

He didn’t avoid a crash, but his evasiveness made it much less worse than it could have been. He got out in one piece, and was finally able to assess his new body -- young, female, Black. The driver he hit didn’t even get out of their car. They just backup up, pulled around, and continued on. He could only assume they were swapped into a new body as well. Maybe they thought it was all a dream with no consequences; maybe they hated their new body and had a death wish; maybe they were just in a hurry to find their original body. Dustin wasn’t going to be so hasty.

Vacancy

Kiara had been doing yoga in the park and the cooldown always involved a brief period of meditation. As she closed her eyes to focus, she was genuinely surprised by the pure bliss she felt; it soon seemed like she was floating above her own body. However, she couldn’t seem to end the experience. She was like a spirit, and something was preventing her from returning to her own body. Then she watched as her own body stand up and put on her coat.

“What the hell is going on here?” Kiara shouted.

“You should be more careful leaving your belongings unattended,” Her body replied.

“What are you talking about? I was doing yoga.”

“No, you were having an out-of-body experience, essentially your body had a vacancy for any passing spirits.”

“Give it back!”

“Sorry, but finders keepers. It’s not like you often find a spare unused body just lying about without a soul all that often. Being a woman should be interesting, too! It’s not like I would’ve picked changing genders, but -- like I said -- I couldn’t be picky.”

“Well, since you can hear me in this weird spirit form, I’ll just follow you and annoy you until you give it back!”

“Oh, that’s temporary. I can hear you now because of the recent connection, but soon you’ll fade and then you’ll be the one spending decade floating around trying to find someone else dumb enough to separate their soul from their body. Good luck!”

A Whole New Level of Crazy

The trailer park where I lived was probably a living stereotype of the types of people you’d expect to meet in a trailer park. My neighbor would often sit outside on a weathered couch drinking a beer. He’d usually bring out a portable TV to watch conservative news shows for the seemingly sole purpose of having something he could be outraged about while watching.

After the Great Shift, I thought he’d find some sort of new understanding now that he was in the body of a Black woman, but he was still the same asshole he always was brought to a whole new level of crazy.

“The Great Shift was a damned hoax,” I heard him shouting one day, “It’s just some sort of deep state psy-op causing you THINK you’re someone else so they can push their woke diversity agenda.”

I heard glass smash. I wasn’t sure if he dropped his beer or threw it. “Tr*mp’s gonna fix it all! We’ll wake up on January 21st and be back in our bodies, because it’s all a lie. I’m not a woman! I’m not!”

The Domes

Brian looked at the odd chair at the end of the row in the waiting area. As he sat down, the seat automatically reclined while putting his feet up. A dome lowered over his head; it felt warm and soothing; it began to play gentle music. Brian felt at peace, and he was pretty sure he could get used to this sort of amenity.

He was rudely taken out of the experience by someone shaking him roughly and pulling up the dome.

“What the hell, man?” He asked before looking at the face of the person who had taken him out of the experience. It was his own face. He asked again, “What the hell? Who are you?”

“Well, I’m guessing I’m you,” His body replied, “And you’re me.”

“I’m what now?” Brain was still a little steeped in bliss from the dome. It was difficult for him to acknowledge he was now in a body that wasn’t his own, but it was slowly sinking in.

Mutually Beneficial

Angela and Marc became friends on their first day at college. Angela cried on Marc’s shoulder when her long distance high school boyfriend dumped her. Marc confided in Angela that he was closeted and gay. For a time, Angela agreed to be Marc’s beard in a mutually beneficial relationship.

By the time senior year rolled around, Angela was angered by how all the internships she had treated the men better than her; Marc confessed that he was actually trans. Angela hatched a plan.

She spent a few late nights studying in the Physics Building. After about a week, no one even blinked when she was the last one there. Then she let Marc in through a back exit, and the two snuck down in to the basement lab. The two helmets on the body swap machine were dusty and mothballed. It had been abandoned due to “ethical concerns” but not demolished. They both hoped it still worked.

The next day, Angela and Marc saw each other and smiled.

“It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of,” Marc said with a smile from Angela’s body, “I’ve been loving every second since last night.”

Angela returned the smile, “It’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m sure it will be worth it. I already feel people look up to more as a male.”

“That’s just because my old body is taller!” Marc joked before assuring Angela that the bias was real.

Spells 'R Us 2.0 (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Spells R Us 2.0.
View Part 2 of Spells R Us 2.0.

For a while, Connor called the store every day to see if the tablet was back in stock. Then he shifted to about once a week. After a while, it seemed like the store wasn’t even picking up the phone anymore. Finally, one day he called and an automated voice said the number was not in service.

Connor got on the bus and headed to the mall. The electronics store was gone. It was like it never existed. He tried to go to a different store, thinking he might be able to buy the tablet elsewhere. That’s when things got really weird. The other stores hadn’t even heard abotu the tablet before; it was like he had made it all up in his head.

Yet Connor knew that tablet existed; he was sure it’s what caused him to be in this body. He once again fond himself walking the mall to think about it. Walking was much harder this time.

While Elena had filled him in on a lot, she had no way to know she was pregnany when they swapped. And Connor didn’t even realize he was missing periods. By the time he knew, it was much too late to do anyting about. Elena’s parents yelled at him; they talked about a boyfriend Connor had never met. Connor guessed Elena had broken up with him not long before the swap. He couldn’t believe he was likely stuck like this for the rest of his life! He was now Elena, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Playing Death

The withered skeleton known as Death looked down at the board. It was the first time he had lost a game in over a hundred years, and the first time ever he had lost two. Losing the first game meant that Death would have to grant this man’s life back. Of course, after the second game, calling him a “man” no longer seemed fitting, as he gained the ability to come back to life in perfect health as any recently deceased person. Death was surprised by the man’s selection of an attractive female.

But now the third game was on the line, and Death knew he couldn’t lose. The man was asking to stay alive forever, and Death knew the man had miscalculated. Being alive forever was not the same thing as staying young forever. The man’s newfound beauty would fade, and his body would still inevitably decay. It was the same deal Death had negotiated back when he was a mortal.

If this man won, Death knew it was only a matter of time until he’d have a replacement. He even thought about throwing the match to guarantee it, but it just wasn’t in Death’s nature. No, he knew he was going to try to win, but he was sincerely hoping he wouldn’t.

Working in Mysterious Ways

George was at home alone on a Saturday afternoon and feeling quite miserable as he thought about his life. Since turning 40 a few years ago, his life seemed to be in a downward spiral. He was always gaining weight, his wife had left him, and just this week he had lost his job.

As he thought about wishing how things could be different, the doorbell rang. He opened the door to find a young woman holding the Bible and blathering on about Jesus before George even had time to say hello.

It wasn’t what he wanted to hear right now, and just about as he was about to tell her to leave, a flash of light washed over them both. In the next instant, he noticed he was standing out, and (in a way) he got his wish. Things were certainly now very different since he had swapped bodies with the woman who had came to his door.

With a smile on his face, he turned and bolted out of there as fast as he could. Whatever gave him this chance, he didn’t want to lose it. The woman now in his body started yelling angrily.

George couldn’t think of any sort of response aside from shouting, “I guess it’s just the Lord working in mysterious ways!”

Copy + Paste

For the past few weeks, Andre had been trying to figure out how to undo his body swapping with Sumiko. The plan seemed straightforward: Find his body, return to the warehouse where they had switched, and then use the device to swap back to normal.

Tracking his own body down was almost too easy, but it told him a different story. In short, there was no body swap. Andre hadn’t swapped bodies with Sumiko. It was just that all of Sumiko’s memories were overwritten with Andre’s. The body swap was just a lie that was told after the fact, but the records could all be found in the warehouse. The Andre in Sumiko’s body determined the second part of his plan still made sense.

Upon arrival, the warehouse seemed abandoned with all the scientists and staff cleared out since the experiment. Luckily, the power was still on, protecting the remaining equipment inside from the harsh winter elements. Andre couldn’t find the body swapper; there didn’t seem to be any evidence it had ever existed. But he did find something else.

It was the device that had given him Andre’s memories, just as the original version of himself had said. And there were documents, videos, and holograms explaining it all. It talked about how Sumiko became a vegetable due to an early test, it talked about trying to use Andre’s brain to “fill the gaps”to bring Sumiko back. He saw the brain scans, and then he saw another error that showed how Andre’s memories had completely overwritten anything that might have remained in Sumiko’s head. Andre realized he wasn’t a swap; he was just a f*cking copy.

Burqa

Afareen was happy to quickly get in touch with the person now in her body after the Great Shift. And even though it had only been a couple of hours, she almost didn’t recognize herself.

“What did you do with my burqa?” She asked, quite shocked to see her body outside without it.

“Dude, I changed out of that thing the first chance I had and into some real clothes,” Zeke replied.

“But...please...no!” Afareen struggled to find the right words, “You have to! At least my hijab, please!”

“But that’s your culture, not mine! You’re not going to catch me wearing any of that stuff! You can’t force it on me just because I have your body now.”

Big Break

I formed a metal band with a couple friends in college, and we had been playing shows at small clubs across the states for a few years. We lost money on every show, but we were just a bunch of dudes with day jobs who liked to play music, so we didn’t mind.

Getting contacted by a booker in Asia, we thought it would be our big break. Sure, it was just a few dates in similarly small venues and we’d lose even more money, but exposure to an international audience seemed like a no brainer and a fun vacation.

We never expected the Great Shift to hit right in the middle of tour. One second I was loading my own gear into a crapy dive bar, and the next minute I’m sitting backstage in a fancy green room. I’m wearing pink. I was a woman! There were several other women around me. It didn’t take me long to realize it was the rest of my band, and we had all swapped bodies with a kpop girlband.

The crowd had all swapped as well, and were quite restless. A promoter asked us if we knew music, and we nodded. He didn’t care what we did as long as we performed. So despite having the bodies of pop stars, we went out to the arena stage and played our metal songs. It was difficult for me to growl the vocals with my new body, but I did my best. Defying expectation, the entie crowd seemed really into it. It wasn’t how we expected to have our big break in music, but we weren’t complaining.

GPA

Jake had hired Kiko to be his tutor to help get his GPA up. If he wanted to keep his place on the college football team, his grades needed to be high enough. After a few weeks, Kiko was fed up. She was convinced Jake wasn’t even trying. He tried to plead with her to stay, explaining he’d do anything to stay on the team. And that’s when Kiko brought him into the science lab to test out a device she had been tinkering with.

The device allowed the two to switch bodies, and now several hours after the swap, they sat in the library with nerdy Asian student now inside the body of a jock and visa versa.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jake asked.

“It’s fine. The only way you’re going to pass any of these tests is with my brain inside your body,” Kiko assured him, “And don’t worry about me on the field. The right move is often just a matter of the right math mixed with the right brawn, which I obviously have right now.”

“And what about you? Are you worried I’m going to fail all your classes while I’m in your body.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m so far ahead that a few flunked tests won’t dent my GPA. Besides, maybe while in my body, you’ll be able to focus and actually learn something.”

Brain in a Jar

“Oh, Ami,” Jason mused aloud, “I imagine you would be suffering if you actually understood your situation. You are nothing but a brain in a jar without a body attached. You are unable to see, unable to touch, and unable to move. Of course, thanks to this machine, you know none of that. It still has your synapses firing in order to make you think everything is perfectly normal. Perhaps you one day might realize that you are you are in a dreamlike state that you will never awaken from.

“And I hope you don’t worry about your body as I am taking very good care of it. I am getting plenty of exercise, eating well, and your boyfriend says he has never been happier. As far as everyone is concerned, things have never been better. I thought I’d have some trouble, but it seems that when you look like someone else, it doesn’t matter how much you don’t really act like that person. There’s no way for me to know what you are thinking in there, but I hope you are a very happy brain in a jar...”

Genius (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Genius.
View Part 2 of Genius.

According to the website, the place where his mom had gone had a strict dress code, so Martin had to change again -- this time into a dress, which was even worse than his mom’s work clothes. He had also assumed his mom had gone to a fancy restaurant or something, and he was very surprised when he showed up and it was actually a loud night club.

Martin hated the blaring music; he hated the crowd; but he knew he had to find his mom. His random searching didn’t turn up anything, so he had to build up his courage and actually talk to people. He had trouble describing himself, and his social awkwardness still was difficult to push through. But after about an hour, he learned his body had moved to another club in town.

In fact, it seemed she was bouncing all over, taking full use of her single night of youth. Of course, Martin was worried they were running out of time. If he didn’t find her soon, it wouldn’t just be this one night.

After the fifth or sixth club, he finally gave up. It was already too late. He drove home realizing he would be stuck in his mom’s body for the next two years.

When he pulled up, his mom’s car was already in the driveway. The true horror of it all set in. Not only would they be stuck as each other, but if he hadn’t run off to try to find her, she might’ve been back in time to swap back. Now he had to break the news.

Hustle

There hit a point when Derek’s pool hustle stopped working. Everyone in town knew him, and even if he threw a game beforehand, no one would ever place a bet against him. He knew he needed a new angle.

That’s where his sister Emma helped out.

Early on Friday evenings, they would use one of those illegal swapper devices to switch bodies. He’d head out to a bar, hustle some patrons at the pool table, and then split the winnings with his sister before they swapped back.

The scheme was even more successful, as Emma seemed even more unlikely to be a billiards expert. Her body screamed “school librarian” much more than “pool hustler.” He found that with her body, people not only fell for his swindle once, but multiple times! And all he had to do was spend a few hours each week in the body of his own sister!

AI (Part 2)

View Part 1 of AI.

The electrical surge had corrupted the data, so Roger could never figure out how to recreate the surge. He just had to learn to adapt to being in the body of an android. The first few days were certainly a unique experience, Roger and XC worked side-by-side to upgrade various parts of his body. Perhaps most notably, his face was more detailed now and more feminine. Roger pushed for realistic synthetic skin, so he could leave the house, but XC seemed to have other ideas.

She began to complain about how often her human body got exhausted, and offered a solution. Since Roger now had her android body, he could accomplish things like cooking and cleaning without ever getting tired. Roger realized this was technically true but protested, because he wanted to prioritize work to either get back to his own body or (at least) be able to pass as human. XC simply explained her advanced AI was still intact now that she was in Roger’s body, and she could do all that better and quicker than him as a result, even with the limitations of the fact that she now had his human body.

And so Roger resigned himself to chores. He looked at the meal he was making. He couldn’t smell it; he couldn’t taste it. His hands were still more clumsy than he was used to and often spilled it. Maybe he would ask XC if she could find a way to improve his dexterity. Somehow he felt like that was something she might be able to put effort into and get done. He was pretty sure she had forgotten about the skin she promised. He was also convinced that she was having too much fun in his human body to ever care about finding a way to swap back. Little did he know exactly how right he was...

Questioning

It was like waking up after a very long sleep. James didn’t know what was going on. He gasped for breath as he sat up and emerged from a pool of water he had apparently been in; there were all sorts of computers and electronic equipment around him. Then there was his body. This couldn’t possibly be his body! He was a man, and this body was certainly female.

Had his mind been placed in this body using this strange tank and equipment? Then again, maybe he was originally a woman, and all these electronics were some sort of dream chamber that had allowed him to imagine his life as James. Maybe he had been kidnapped and all this stuff had transformed him into a woman. He had no answers, and it seemed there was no one around to ask.

He stood up, detached wires from his body (What if this body wasn’t even human? What if it was some sort of synthetic made to look human?), then he began walking around. But there wasn’t another soul around. There were other rooms, but all the other tanks seemed empty. He wasn’t getting any answers anytime soon...

Monstrous Results

When Desmond first found the magic spell book, it was like a godsend. With it, he generated fabulous wealth for himself. The shy and nerdy young man was finally able to move out of his parents’ house and into his own place -- and not just any place, a fancy mansion with a huge backyard.

And as time passed, Desmond wondered if the book could bring him just as much success with love as it had with wealth. Spells to increase his own charisma or coerce someone to love him didn’t seem possible. But creating a girlfriend using the book? Well, that certainly seemed within the rules!

After speaking various incantations, Desmond looked around to see where his new girlfriend might be. Instead, he began to feel a sharp stabbing pain throughout his body. He soon realized he must have read something wrong. He hadn’t created himself a girlfriend; he had turned himself into a woman! But he hadn’t even gotten THAT quite right, as he also seemed to have some rather monstrous traits like pointed ears and sharp teeth coming up from his lower jaw. He felt a rage and anger like nothing he have ever felt, and he was having trouble containing it. He wanted to rip the book to shreads, but he knew it was also his only hope of getting back to normal, so he continued to read...

Showtime

“Fifteen minutes until showtime,” A voice said through a walkie talkie sitting on a makeup stand.

Stewart didn’t know what to do. Mere moments ago, he had been sitting at home alone. Then suddenly he was backstage at a concert in a stadium, and weirder still was that he wasn’t inside his own body anymore. He was now inhabiting the body of a kpop superstar, one of the biggest artists in the world. But he didn’t know any of her songs; he barely even recognized her name; he definitely didn’t speak Korean! He certainly couldn’t go on stage to perform, but how was he going to explain that to anyone? No one would believe he was in the wrong body. Heck, he barely believed it, and he was living it!

“Five minutes until showtime.” The voice said.

He grabbed the walkie talkie. “I can’t do it,” He said into the walkie, but he realized he was saying it in Korean. He began to sit and think. He didn’t know how he did that! It was more like instinct than rational thought. Maybe the songs and dacning would be like that too. Mabe he could actually pull this off...

Laughing at a Funeral

Ahmed knew everyone was staring at him. Usually funerals were somber occasions, and here he was full of smiles. Of course, he couldn’t tell any of his relatives or friends who he was, that he was alive, and about how he had his brain transplanted into this woman’s body. He had signed all sorts of confidential statements to not reveal any of it.

He thought he’d be showing up to this thing as a way to say goodbye to everyone he knew. He thought he’d be just as sad as they were. But when he saw his former body in a coffin, it felt just so good to be alive! The smiles came, the laughter soon followed.

Eventually it became too much, and he knew he was being disruptive. He left everyone to mourn in peace without him. He still so badly wanted to tell everyone in there that there was nothing to be sad about. But he knew he couldn’t...

Extended Offer

Angela had only discovered she was pregnant a few days before the Great Shift. Her and her husband were overjoyed; they had almost given up on having children after many failed attempts. They also realized this was probably their last chance of having a child, given their age.

The Shift’s body swapping didn’t offer them any additional hope; they ended up swapping bodies with a pair of neighbors around their own age. If anything, the problems were now compounded as a college student named Jim was now in Angela’s body.

Angela begged and pleaded with him to keep the baby and give birth for them. She offered him a lot of money and gifts to do so, and to treat him properly during the pregnancy. At the eight month mark, she couldn’t wait for him to keep birth. He was so demanding on shopping trips, always asking for more. Angela would always comply, not wanting to risk him doing anything dangerous to the baby inside his body.

Of course, Jim had gotten used to having his every need and more met; he didn’t want to give that up easily. He made a suggestion one shopping trip. “I’ve been reading a lot of mom books and stuff,” He said, “You know, they say the best thing for a baby is lots of breast feeding for the first few months. I’m just sayin’ I have two ample sources of the stuff here that I might be willing to help out with...for a price.”

Angela had read similar things. She cringed as she looked at her body with Jim’s masculine body language. She wanting nothing more than to be rid of Jim forever, and yet she was still seriously considering his offer....

Understanding in a Car Crash

William hadn’t seen the car that hit the cab he was driving. He was too focused on the couple in the back seat. They were talking about their recent wedding, how much they had spent, and how they could’ve easily afforded more. That made the man a prime candidate to swap bodies with when he let them off at their stop downtown. He’d become a rich guy with a hot wife; what could possible go wrong?

But then the crash happened. It triggered an instant swap. There was no “Have a nice day;” no $50 tip; and, most notably, no choice of who to swap with. William was now inside the body of the female passenger! But he was fortunately uninjured, which was far better than he could say for the cab’s other riders. The man was passed out next to him and the driver (whose body William had been in moments ago) was unconscious up front. Both were losing a great deal of blood. William tried to pull them out, but he wasn’t sure if he was no longer strong enough or if they were pinned by twisted metal.

He hoped out and began to approach passerbys. “I need help!” He exclaimed, “He needs help! They need help!”

New Yorkers seemed oblivious to his pleas. Maybe it was just that New York stereotype or maybe they were avoiding this taxi for a reason. It took him a while to realize he had a purse with a phone inside. He quickly dialed 911.

Dumb

Evan looked at the test in front of him. He knew he knew this material, but he couldn’t seem to answer a single question. And if he didn’t ace this exam, Kelsey wouldn’t give him his body back. Of course, his sister had stolen his body because statistics were his expertise, and she was at risk failing out of college if she couldn’t pass. She told him it should be easy for him, and he thought she was right. However, it seemed that along with Kelsey’s body, he also had her intellectual talents (or lack thereof).

He told himself that even if he failed this one, he could study really hard for the next one to pull off a solid C. Surely, Kelsey couldn’t be so dumb that she was incapable of studying? After all, how was she able to get herself into college in the first place? Over the next few weeks, Evan would learn that his sisetr really was just that dumb.

College Town

Despite growing up in a college town, Matt just hadn’t been the type to go to university. Though when he suddenly found himself in one after a flash of light shone in his face, he knew where he was; he just didn’t know who he was -- the slender manicured fingers, the feminine curves hiding behind the bulky sweater -- he had become a woman!

He didn’t seem to be the only one in the wrong body either. Everyone in the lecture hall was screaming or grabbing their heads or their bodies. Matt realized he was the one standing in front of everyone at a podium with a microphone. Was he the teacher? A student giving a presentation? Who knows?

“Excuse me,” He spoke into the microphone, feeling very strange about the sound of his own voice. It was soft, high pitched, and not very commanding. He pressed on anyway, “We need to be calm about this. Panicking isn’t going to make it any better. I’m confused and scared, but I’m also not going to freak out, okay? None of us should. We can all figure this out together, okay?”

Single Mom (Part 1)

Evan still wasn’t sure how he had the power to switch bodies or why he had told his nieghbor Christine about it. He did know why he had agreed to swap bodies with her for a few hours. As a single mom, she just deserved a break. She was stressed out all the time between work and taking care of her daughter; Evan knew he had a carefree life -- as a kid with rich parents, he didn’t even need to take on a summer job before he’d be heading off the college in the fall.

But after spending the day as Christine, he did want to get back to normal. And while his power to swap bodies was pretty impressive, it did have one limitation -- namely that the person needed to be nearby at least. He and Christine had agreed to meet at the playground at 5PM, but that was an hour ago now. Evan was texting his old phone repeatedly, but Christine’s daughter was getting tired of the playground and hungry.

Finally, Evan decided a few more hours as Christine wouldn’t be so bad. He could take Christine’s daughter to McDonalds or something, head back home, and then swap back their -- the two houses should be close enough for Evan to initiate the swap. He texted the plan to Christine and hoped she would finally respond.

Haunted House (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Haunted House.
View Part 2 of Haunted House.

Anna and I should have listened to Conor. He had always been the smartest and most level headed amongst us. It’s not that we didn’t find Erika in Conor’s body -- we did -- but it was a trap. That ‘weird guy’ that Conor had mentioned now had two new bodies and brains to mess with, namely Anna’s and mine.

When I woke up, Conor’s body was now dead at my feet with his head hollowed out. I wasn’t able to muster up any feelings of fear, disgust, or anger; I knew I should, but I just couldn’t seem to pull them up in my head. The same was true when I realized I was now in Anna’s body. At worst, it felt like a minor inconvenience, even if I logically knew the whole situation was very bad.

It seemed Erika was now the one in my body -- neither of us knew where Anna’s brain was -- but where my emotions were muted, hers seemed heightened. I reasoned it was a good thing we were both tied up, she was absolutely enraged and thrashing about, trying to get free. I tried to get her to calm down, but that only made her angrier. She threatened me, but I found it difficult to care.

Going Down

The elevator came to a stop between floors as the lights went out and the display began to show strange characters. Once the light came back, Adam looked over to see his own body standing there.

“What the hell is going on here?” He asked, putting his hands up to his mouth, surprised by his own voice.

“Who are you and why do you look like me?” His body replied.

“...And you look like me. And I...” Adam was putting all the pieces together in his head. “No, it’s impossible. We’ve swapped bodies?”

“Like in the movies? But that’s impossible.”

“Look down at yourself. You’re a guy! You’re me! And I’m a woman! I’m you!” Adam began to frantically press buttons n the elevator, convinced it had something to do with the swap.

But the pressing did little than to get the elevator moving again.

“We’re should probably think of a plan soon.” Adam listened to his body, “Those doors are going to open in a second, and if people hear us talking about swapping bodies, they are going to think we are crazy. So, let’s grab a coffee or something and find some place out of the way to talk about this.”

Catch and Release

“Myrtle! What the hell are you doing?” Dirk shouted from the river bank, “That damned fish could talk! We could’ve sold it for a lot of money! Or at least we could’ve eaten it!”

“It also said it could grant wishes,” Earl added, “That’s probably a think we could take advantage of.”

“It could grant ME a wish. I caught it, and I released it. If either of you want a wish, you need to catch it yourself.” The woman in the river replied.

“Well, what’dya wish for?” Dirk asked, “Did’ya wish for money? I don’t exactly feel any richer.”

Merle knew he couldn’t tell Dirk or Earl his wish. They’d never understand. Heck, for years he’d wished to be a woman and never told them. They would’ve hurls all sort of slurs and insults in his direction; they’d probably never speak to him again. But when the magical fish offered a wish? Well, he wished to become Myrtle and that it would be like he had always been Myrtle. The fish seemed to understand Merle’s pain and happily granted the wish on its release.

“You just both have to trust me,” Myrtle said, “It was worse before. Even if things seems terrible; you just have to trust me that it was worse before, okay?”

Invasion

“Greg Cooper! Greg Cooper! You must open the forcefield!”

Greg could recognize the voice -- it was his own -- but everything else looked very strange. It was distorted and off-color. “What’s happening?” He asked, noting he now had a strangely robotic and feminine voice, which he also could recognize. “Zeyvla?” He added, “Why am I in your body?”

“Maybe it’s an attack! Or a sabotage! Please, just lower the forcefield and let me in! I need to be at my position at the controls! Things could get so much worse!”

“No.”

“’No?’ What do you mean ‘No?’ You need to let me in! It could be the difference between life and death!”

“Everyone swapped bodies, right? So I know I’m really Greg, and I’m in Zeyvla’s body...but how do I know YOU are really Zeyvla in MY body? I can’t make out these controls with her Zyxian eyes, and yet...you seem confident to take over using my human eyes? It doesn’t add up. If something was wrong, there would be a warning sound -- despite being in Zeyvla’s body, my hearing is fine. But if I powered down the forcefield, it’s linked to the shields. YOU are the invader! But why not swap into Zeyvla’s body directly? Why use me as an intermediary?”

“You don’t understand!”

“No, I think I understand perfectly..”

The Long Road into Town (Part 2)

Part 1 of The Long Road into Town.

It had been several hours now, and Barney had finally made it to a public road. During the day, the occasional truck or car might pass, but at this time of night, there probably wasn’t going to be any traffic. He placed the core down briefly to look both ways down the road just to be sure; it was desolate.

Both he and Joanne had to leave their cell phones outside of the chambers to use the body swapping machine, so they were both burnt up in the fire. If he had a cell phone now, he’d probably be getting enough signal to call for help.

At this point, he felt like his fingers and toes were going to freeze off -- He’d hate to give Joanne back her body without any fingers or toes -- but town was only about another hour away on foot. That was doable. Or at least he told himself he could do it.

He picked back up the core and headed down the road. There was still no sign of Joanne with his body.

Will Not Be Missed

“John? John? Is that you?” A voice in the distance called out, centering John causing him to feel like he was being brought back to reality.

He recognized the voice.”Mom?” He asked, “Where was I? Why does my voice sound so strange?”

“I brought you back, John.”

“Back? I was...I was dead. The cancer got me. It must have. But how am I...” John began to look down at his body to see a feminine form wearing a dress. “Who am I now, Mom? Whose body is this? Where did you get it?”

“That’s not important right now. What’s important is you’re alive again.”

“Not important? Whoever she was, she had a life! And somehow you used this weird machine that she was strapped into to steal her life and give it to me? It doesn’t feel right.”

“Just trust your mother, John. The hardest thing for a parent is losing a child, even if they are an adult like you were. The only thing you need to know about the woman you are now is that she will not be missed.”

First Semester (Final)

View Part 1 of First Semester.
View Part 2 of First Semester.
View Part 3 of First Semester.
View Part 4 of First Semester.
View Part 5 of First Semester.
View Part 6 of First Semester.

“Chanellor, deans, professors, faculty, and students, I come to speak to you today about the recent tragedy on campus,” Josh was nervous as he spoke, “The unfortunate death of Eunice Wen has shook the campus. It happened while she was still in my body on the day after my final Swap Class presentation; two days before we were scheduled to return to our own bodies. And so now I am stuck in her body, but that’s not what I’m here to address today.

”The danger I am here to talk about is Swap Class itself. Eunice didn’t give me much instruction about how to be her, but she did teach us all that for the duration of class, we should be embracing who we appeared to be. And let me ask you? Was not Eunice Wen doing that in my body when she got drunk at a party and fell off a roof? I held up an unpleasant mirror up to her life, and she responded by acting like the irresponsible male college freshman she appeared to be. So I am asking you to cancel Swap Class. And I’m not for the fact that I am now stuck in the body of a middle aged woman -- you’ll see a fairly big lawsuit about that. No, I’m asking foe the life of a woman who would still be with us if not for the foolishness of placing us all in the wrong bodies for a few months. End Swap Class. End it now! Thank you.”

Procedure

Keith had gone to the clinic on his wife’s suggestion. Sheila had heard about a new treatment that was recommended for all men over 40, and she urged Keith to talk to someone about it. He had entered the building where the clinic’s office was on the third floor, and Sheila waited outside.

The whole process was weird and rushed, but Keith had to admit that he felt great afterward. He stepped out of the building to see his wife waiting.

“You were right.” He said to her, “Best decision I ever made! I feel great.”

Sheila didn’t recognize this person. “Who are you?” She asked Keith.

“It’s me. Your husband!”

“Look, Lady, I don’t know why you are trying to mess with me, but you are clearly NOT my husband.”

“Of course I am! I just went in for that procedure and they...” Keither finally noticed his manicured nailed and the stylish pink pantsuit he now wore, “...And they turned me into a woman! Oh, God! Of course you don’t recognize me! But it’s me, Sheila! It’s me!”