The Party After (Part 1)

No one was quite sure what had caused the incident on campus that caused about 20% of the people in the area to swap bodies. It was enough so that everyone pretty much knew someone it had happened to, but it was still sort of weird when you noticed someone you hadn’t noticed before was swapped. It made the first frat party afterwards an interesting experience.

When Professor Lee shows up in a backwards baseball cap and flannel shirt, most of the frat brothers were sure she was there to shut it down. Helen Lee was known as a strict professor and the antithesis of fun. As it turned out, Brad Weiss was now the one in her body. Brad was one of the biggest party animals on campus, and wasn’t going to miss this one no matter what body he was in. Of course, he had to relate tales of getting sloshed with some of the others to convince people who he really was, which ultimately proved to be not that diffcult.

What was difficult for Brad, however, was trying to hit on some of his female classmates. While it had been easy with his former young and attractive male body, very few (if any) of the women at the party wanted to hook up with a middle aged chinese woman...

A Cabin in the Woods

Jim and Tyler had brought their girlfriends, Megan and Tina, to the remote cabin in the woods for a fun (and hopefully romantic) weekend. But a strange surge made the power to go out, and -- in a truly strange twist -- caused them to swap bodies. The two men inside the bodies of each other’s girlfriend went down to the basement to investigate.

Jim, now inside Tina’s Asian body, shined his flashlight on a bunch of wires. “Look at this,” He said, “This cabin doesn’t even have internet. What do they need all this for? This has got to be responsible for swapping our bodies.”

“I saw a breaker on the wall,” Tyler suggested, “Should I flip it? Maybe it’ll power on and swap us all back?”

“What if it makes things worse?”

“Dude, you are in my girlfriend’s body. How could things be any worse? Unless...unless you want to make out with each other this weekend?”

“What...no...weird, dude!”

“Why is it weird. I mean, I’m in your girlfriend’s body, and you’re inmy girlfriend’s body. It’ll be like we’re just making out with them without having to, you know, deal with them.”

Suddenly, Jim was considering not trying anything to swap back at all...

Iteration #56

The room seemed impossibly large to fit inside the architecture of the house, but that wasn’t even the weirdest thing about the space. As I looked around the room, there were clones of my body in suspended animation. Things got even creepier when a robotic voice echoed on the loudspeaker.

“You shouldn’t be here.” The voice said.

“Where even is here?” I asked.

“This is where you were born.”

“What do you mean?”

“Each time you die, your mind regerates here in a new body. And each time, it is more suited to your desires. And each time, improvemens are made. Your present form is iteration #56, Oliver.”

“Oliver? But that’s a guy’s name! My name is Olivia!”

“Desire for female form began in iteration #27. Memories between iterations are erased and replaced with suitable memories for each new form.”

“I used to be a guy? No way! No way! And who are you?”

“I am merely an AI to assist you and continue the iteration process. I am here to assist.”

Swapping Day

Everyone on the planet knew the day was coming, but not many people looked forward to it: Swapping Day. Every five years, a mandatory body swap was triggered, and everyone swapped bodies with someone else. In the distant past, it had been possible to swap bodies with anyone, but in the last hundred years or so, there were limits put in place. You’d end up as someone around your own age (within three months or so) some as someone with a similar level of health. Everything else was fair game.

Zaiden would learn that last bit after today’s swap, and he wasn’t exactly happy about it. In the previous four swaps, he had always swapped with another guy, but now he was a woman for the first time. He couldn’t believe he was going to be stuck as a woman for the next five years!

Welcome to the Year 3356

“Please, if you’ll allow me to explain,” The nebbish man at the computer explained, “I’m a historian. My team brought you to the present -- or the future as you would see it -- so we could learn more about your time.”

“But why the hell would you turn me into a woman?” Scott exclaimed.

“Only thoughts travel through the time vortex, not physical matter. We needed a host for you to inhabit once you get here. We can’t turn down volunteers who donate their bodies as hosts. And our selection of plucking people from the past is limited. We know little more than an approximate time we pulled you from and that your removal wouldn’t have any major consequences for the timeline. Speaking of which, would you mind telling me the exact year you were previously in?”

“2024.” Scott paused, “Removal? Aren’t you going to send me back once you’re done asking questions or whatever it is you do?”

“I’m afraid the time vortex is a one way trip.Welcome to the year 3356.”

Participant

With his unemployment running out, Cameron had signed up for a medical experiment that offered to pay him $100 per day. But when he found out what it entailed, he seriously considered backing out. It seemed that for a month, they were going to swap his brain into someone else’s body. It was absolutely crazy, but his hesitation was more about who he’d be swapping with. If he agreed to this, his brain would be put inside the body of a scrawny white woman; while she would be inside his Black male body. He was seriously off-put by the entire idea, but his need for the money ultimately won out.

The procedure took longer than he had expected, and there was a lengthy period to allow the participants to adjust to their new bodies. By the time he left and began walking home, it was getting dark. Cameron always hated being out of this time. It wasn’t uncommon for a police car to pull up with an officer convinced he was in the “wrong neighborhood.” Cameron always hated it. Wrong neighborhood? Hell, he lived here!

He was only two doors away from home when a police car did pull up and expected the usual. Instead, the officer politely asked if Cameron was in need a ride home or if he’d like an escort of any kind. It took Cameron by surprise until he remembered what he currently looked like. As much as he hated being stuck in this body for the next month, at least there were some inconveniences he wouldn’t have to put up with. Though as he noticed the officer eyeing his new body up and down, he also realized there were a few other inconveniences that he’d have to get used to.

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!”