Stories

Shelby read the book with an intense curiosity. It seemed to be describing her own life in great detail from start to finish -- the birthdays from childhood that were distant memories, every boyfriend and every breakup, and even recent events.

There was certainly an impulse to read ahead and find out what happens in the future, but a story from about two years ago left her shocked.

It was about a guy she knew, Jackson. It was a story about stealing his body, and he ended up stuck as her -- but with all her memories and mannerisms. She was him, able to take on the world as a guy, but he was stuck as her without even realizing it.

There was no mention of ever swapping back.

Shelby was stunned. With everything else about this book being an accurate story of her life, why insert this piece of fiction? But then again, what if it was as true as everything else? What if she was actually Jackson but didn’t even know it? She had to keep reading...

It's a Wonderful Wife!

Lady Problems

I paused as I picked up a piece of my sushi roll. Preston was staring, and I had no idea why. Was he getting suspicious? Did this guy figure out that I wasn’t actually Mia? She had helped me learn her movements, her mannerisms, even the way she spoke. I was going on this date solely as a favor to her while our bodies were swapped. Did I want to go on a date with another dude? Hell no. It felt gay -- despite what my body might look like right now, I still felt like a guy on the inside. But had I messed up somewhere?

“You seem nervous tonight, Mia,” Preston said.

The way he said it made me think he knew, but how could he? I tried to brush it off. He kept pressing.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” He pressured.

Finally I snapped. With few other options available to me, I murmured, “Lady problems. Do you REALLY want to hear about them?”

I’m not even sure he bought it, but it did shut him up. He absolutely did not want to talk about that.

Paradise Lost (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Paradise Lost.
View Part 2 of Paradise Lost.

Chase had the option to return to the city, to basically resume his old life at his old job despite his new body. Instead he chose to stay. It was a decision he had made without hesitation. But why?

Well, even on his most miserable days in this tropical paradise, he was still happier than the best days back in the city. He wasn’t sure if that was because he just liked it here better or if it was because he actually enjoyed being a woman more than being a man. Maybe it was both.

And maybe it was never a matter of being completely happy, but just about being happier. And maybe that was enough.

And he could still go to the beach in a bikini anytime he wanted to. At least when it wasn’t raining.

2012 (Part 2)

View Part 1 of 2002.

The three time displaced friends grew over the years from young women into mothers. They all kept in touch as well, just in case any of them had heard of Chrono-cell technology being developed in the news.

But it was Orion who first discovered they were all actually their own great-great-grandmothers. And that meant, they’d all have to give birth...at least once.

Xavier was the first to get pregnant, Orion and Adlai had nothing but worrisome questions, and Xavier did little to dampen their concern. He didn’t like it; he couldn’t recommend it. And yet...if they didn’t? Well, the entire fabric of the universe could fall apart from a paradox.

What choice did they have?

Evaluation

It was hard for Jeremy to accept he had woken up looking like this, inside the body of a woman, wearing her clothes, and in her apartment. Everything was blurry until he found a pair of glasses by the bedside.

Then he looked at his reflection in the mirror to see an unknown woman staring back and mimicking his movements. Many of his initial thoughts were evaluating his new body in the ways he often evaluated women in general, thinking this was the type of woman he’d usually pass by to find someone hotter. Maybe she should lose a few pounds or ditch the glasses for contacts.

Yet this wasn’t a “third person” he was evaluating, it was his own body -- at least it was at the current moment!

Chemtrails

It had to be the fifth or sixth time the chemtrails passed overhead while Dwight was on vacation. He was always ranting about how those damned things would “turn people gay,” but he was pretty sure this time he actually had proof, as the chemtrails had formed what looked to be one of those damned pride flags.

He tried to get out of the pool and get his phone to take a photo, but he felt frozen in place. While most of his beliefs were conspiracy nonsense, these particular chemtrails were, in fact, magic. Dwight’s body began to change.

Within seconds he had been transformed into a woman. A horror came over him that he had gone from male-to-female, fitting the literal definition of being transgender. He initially tried to tell himself it didn’t count, as it wasn’t some sort of surgery or hormone treatment. But his new sense of acceptance soon won out -- it didn’t matter how the change happened, he was now a transwoman. And he also realized there was absolutely nothing wrong with that either!

I'm Not Supposed to Be a Woman (Part 5)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Scam

Dustin was given clear instructions if he wanted to get his body back. First, he was to go to an ATM and take out all her cash with the pin provided. Then he was supposed to give that money to a man waiting a few blocks away.

The scam didn’t make much sense to him. Shouldn’t they blackmail him for his own money? Why have him take out her money -- especially if they already had her pin? He wasn’t really focused on how it all was supposed to work. He just wanted his body back and would do just about anything they said to make that happen. Though that was obviously the next question, how was he going to get his body back?

When he handed the money off, it was his only question. But the man simply smiled, took the money, and then ran off. Apparently, the end result of this scam was to leave him stuck in this body with absolutely no money whatsoever.

Two Different Perspectives

It was difficult for anyone in the office to understand why Toshi was so happy after the Great Shift. The whole thing had upended lives, caused massive confusion, and the company was struggling with its sales as the world had more pressing priorities. They also thought Toshi probably got one of the worst bodies in the Shift, where he ended up switching with one of the few women in the office.

Toshi didn’t see it that way. Sure, the world in general was a mess, but he actually really loved being a woman -- even if this woman’s body was a little older than his had been. He tried not to let his co-workers know this due to their chauvinism, but he was happy. He and his girlfriend were even talking about having a kid and starting a family, as it turned out his girlfriend swapped with a guy. They knew they would probably have to act quickly though, given Toshi’s body new age.

As for sales, he saw it as an opportunity, and he had already lined up a few things that he was sure would pay off in a few weeks.

Should've Earlier

John had realized Eileen had been putting off swapping bodies for several days now. So when he saw her walking on the street, he lept into action and pressed the medallion up against what had been his body until just a few days ago.

But nothing happened. There were no tingles. They weren’t transforming back to their own bodies.

“What the hell? We are supposed to switch back!” John shouted.

“Yeah, um, I’m sorry for not doing it earlier,” Eileen said.

“So why isn’t it working NOW?”

“Are you pregnant? Because it won’t work if --”

John cut her off, “If you weren’t pregnant, then I’m certainly not, because I haven’t been doing THAT with your body.”

“In that case, it’s probably my period...”

Leg Strength

Weren’t women supposed to have better lower body strength? The thought raced through Andy’s head as he struggled in the gym in the weeks following the Great Shift. While he never would’ve called his original body “buff” by any means, it was certainly stronger than his current form.

He hadn’t expected to lift as much as he used to, but he had hoped he could make up for it in some other area. He thought leg strength might be it. He was wrong.

He still held out hope. Maybe this body had a greater endurance? Maybe it had some hidden talent he just wasn’t aware of?

Until he could find that, he was sweating and pushing his way through every single piece of equipment at the gym, trying to find exactly what that hidden talent might be. It certainly wasn’t going well.

Believe

Harriet opened the door and person just entered without saying a word. She was a youthful Asian woman wearing a pink sweatshirt and avoided direct eye contact with Harriet until she stood at the window for a few moments before looking back.

“I always enjoyed this view,” The Asian woman said.

Harriet was getting annoyed, “I lived here with my husband longer than you’ve been alive, and you have the nerve to come in here --”

“I am your husband.” The Asian woman retorted.

Harriet was taken aback. Her husband had died a few months ago. This woman had some nerve...

“I don’t know how it happened,” The Asian woman said, “I just...woke up like this one day, living halfway across the country. No identity. No phone. The things I did to make money -- I don’t even want to mention. I did it all so I could see you again. I know it’s insane and unbelievable. I just needed to at least say goodbye, and then you’ll never have to see me again.”

Harriet wanted to shout. She wanted to tell this woman to get lost, to stop spreading lies. Except -- dammit -- she believed this woman.

I Want to Go

I pulled the towel over my body to cover myself. I wasn’t technically exposed, but I certainly felt that way. I wasn’t wearing anything that was atypical for a woman at the beach; the problem was that I hadn’t been a woman as recently as two minutes ago.

I looked over back at my own body. It seemed to be continuing as if nothing was wrong. Either I was now a copy of myself in this new body, or this woman was now in my body and very confident about it.

“Hey, Babe,” I heard a man’s voice say, “What’s wrong? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I want to go home,” I said, not really thinking about how much distance that would put between me and my own body.

“But we just got here.”

“I don’t care. I want to go.”

Better Deal

“What do we tell Carol?” Marilyn asked.

“I don’t think we tell her anything. You pretend to be me, and I’ll pretend to be you. She’s stressed out about this wedding enough to not have to worry about the fact that her Maid of Honor and her fiancé swapped bodies,” Connor replied.

“I think I’ll be fine for the weeding and the reception, but what if we don’t swap back after that?”

“Then you get a free vacation by going on my honeymoon while I spend two weeks being forced to work your boring office job. This all sounds like a better deal for you than for me.”

“What if she wants to --”

Connor cut her off, “Just roll with it. Like I said, no matter what, this is going to be better for you than me. Now, I have to go help Carol with her dress or she’ll start freaking out.”

The Alicia Shift Collection

Mmmhmm

“So, are you into...other women?” Hugh asked as he reached his hand out to touch hers.

It had been hard for him since he found himself in a nerdy woman’s body. He has been a bit of a player in his male body, and in his new form he just had no game. Part of it was a numbers thing, probably about 90% of women were straight. Then there was his own pickup techniques, which may have worked as a guy, but as a woman? Well, he wasn’t doing himself any favors.

Yet this woman seemed different. He was sure she was eyeing him from across the room. He thought he had a shot.

The other woman look straight into Hugh’s eyes and whispered, “Mmmhmm.”

But with an offer seemingly on the table, Hugh’s heart sank. There was an awkward feeling inside of him. Not that it was finally possible, his own hormones just weren’t interested...

No Thanks

Katie always looked so put together when I saw her out and about -- so glamorous without a single hair out of place. But waking up in her body that one morning, I discovered the truly dark side of her lifestyle.

The apartment was an absolute mess. Only a single faucet worked in the entire place, and always seemed to let out a trickle whether on or off -- which was always cold. The heat barely functioned, and appliances like a stove were just not even there.

Even Katie’s body was much less glamorous from the inside. The inside of my mouth tasted like stale cigarettes. Her hair had a natural frizz that I had no idea how she tamed. I ached in a way that I couldn’t even quite identify.

If you had told me yesterday I was going to wake up as Katie, I would’ve been excited! To become female -- and such a gorgeous one -- would have seemed like a dream. But after the actually experience? Well,I probably would’ve said no thanks.

The Crash

Snow hadn’t been in the forecast when I picked up my younger sister from her college for winter break, yet we ran into a sudden storm while on the road back to our parents. The car I was driving swerved off the highway, and that was the last thing I remembered before waking up in the hospital.

I could feel the bandage on my head, but I was more shocked to find that I now had a woman’s body -- and not just any woman, it was my sister’s body!

My panic was only calmed when the doctors pumped some drugs into me and explained what happened. Rescuers had found the accident in a relatively short time. Both my sister’s body and mine were in terrible shape basically with our heads cut open and brains leaked out. By coincidence, the snow had perfectly preserved our bodies and brains for an experimental treatment to save us.

Unfortunately, they had no quick way to determine which brain belonged in which body. They guessed purely based on size. As such, the guessed wrong and put my male brain inside my sister’s body. I knew it was better than being dead, but it was still a hard truth to swallow. I was now my own sister, and she was now me.

Dr. Wong

With their marriage on the rocks, Alan and Mei had gone to the therapist to try to patch things up. Dr. Wong had suggested a radical hyponsis therapy that would swap their bodies.

It sounded strange, and they were both skeptical, but sure enough, they both went under and Mei had awoken in her husband’s body. Alan, however, was shocked to find that he was now inside Dr. Wong.

He surmised that it wasn’t actually any sort of therapy at all -- just a trick by the doctor to steal the body of his beautiful wife. He tried to explain it all.

To his surprise, Mei chimed in first. “Is this part of the therapy?” She asked.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wong (now inside of Mei’s body) did her best to convince Mei that she was actually Alan, and that Alan inside of Dr. Wong’s body must surely be “acting for some sort of a reason.”

It was hugely frustrating for Alan that his wife couldn’t figure out which body was really him!

All in the Family (Part 4)

View Part 1 of All in the Family.
View Part 2 of All in the Family.
View Part 3 of All in the Family.

Amber and her mother opened to door to see her father standing there in the body of her sister, Autumn. He had apparently been doing a bit of dress-up while they were out.

“Well, this isn’t quite what I expected when you said he was ‘doing well,’” Amber’s mom said.

“He didn’t look like this when I left,” Amber retorted, “He was just watching TV.”

“I’m exploring my new femininity,” He said, “And I’m dealing with hormones and impulses I’m just not used to.”

“We all are.” Amber scoffed, “I just hope we can all swap back soon.”

“I...don’t...want...to...” Her dad said softly.

the workplace.

Crush

“You don’t have to show off, you know?” Josie said as she watched her former body stretch on the floor of the gym.

“I’m just doing what you asked of me,” Vic replied, “You told me to keep your body in shape after we swapped bodies in the Shift.”

“Yeah, I said keep it in shape -- not bulk up in a way that you could crush my head with your thighs.”

“Are you asking me?”

“No! Oh, God, no! But maybe we could, I dunno, grab coffee or something.”

Vic blushed before squealing with delight. “Josie! Are you asking me out!?”

Tinfoil Hat

The party guests all watched in horror when Marilyn walked in. She was the daughter of a billionaire and used to grace this parties with style, but as of last week she couldn’t stop spouting crazy talk about swapping bodies.

She began dressing like a homeless person with a tinfoil hat; she claimed it was to stop the swapping and keep her brain inside this body. They all thought she had gone nuts.

But she wasn’t nuts. She also wasn’t Marilyn.

She was a man named Leroy whose brain had been, in fact, swapping from body-to-body over the past month. And the tinfoil hat did stop the swapping, keeping his brainwaves inside Marilyn’s body. Of course, he knew none of these rich snobs believed him. But he was sure the energy had built up inside his head, he’d show up to their expensive party, take off he hat, and prove to many of them that he was telling the truth.

Metabolism

This caption acts as a sequel to this "Interview with the Shapeshifter" video. I may eventually do an actual video of this. :P

Craig blushed and batted his eyes as he felt a hand reach around his waist. Everything was going according to plan.

“Can I buy you a drink?” The man asked Craig with a smile.

Craig giggled and nodded before asking for an Irish slammer. The man seemed genuinely surprised by the selection, yet purchased it anyway. Craig downed it fast and convinced the man to buy him another beverage to drink “more slowly and talk.”

As they drank more and more, Craig seemed only mildly affected as the man ended up passing out.

Did Craig ever feel bad about using his shapeshifting powers to turn into beautiful women in order to trick men into buying him drinks? Not really. He used this power for just about everything, and getting drunk was really expensive when you had the metabolism of a shapeshifter!

Solutioning

Professor Whatley’s jaw dropped. Emily Chen had only been in his body for a few hours, and she was solving equations that had stumped him for years.

“Do you know what this means?” He asked her.

“That we’re one step closer to nuclear power plants? with no toxic waste” She asked looking over her work.

“Well, yes, but it also means that if you solved that equation, you can probably also figure out the problems I was having with the machine that was preventing us from swapping back to our own bodies.”

She looked at it again, then she looked at him. “But I couldn’t solve this yesterday when I was in my own body. And neither could you. And you can’t solve it now.” Emily sighed.

“What’s your point?” He asked, though he already had a good idea what she was implying.

“My brain in your body solved this problem. Think of what else I could solve. If we swap back, that might all be lost.”

She was right. He hated that she was right, but she was right.

Achoo!

Inspired by my earlier video.

Grace sneezed. Her eyes went wide. She couldn’t still be contagious, could she? She had probably already passed this transformation virus onto so many people before she realized what she had done, but now? Well, she thought she was better; she thought she wouldn’t be infecting people anymore! She tried telling herself this sneeze was just an unrelated new cold or maybe a new allergy due to her newly transformed body.

She didn’t wish this virus on anyone. It was painful for her that the transformation had completely erased the memory of her former life as a guy. She couldn’t remember anything about being Gary at all. There were physical artifacts and people could tell her stories, but Gary felt like a stranger to her. Once it had transformed her body, it transformed her mind. That’s why she now thought of herself as Grace. And she liked who she was, but she wouldn’t wish the erasure of identity like she experiences on anyone else!

Work-Life Balance (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Work-Life Balance.

Evan was enjoying his first day in Kim’s body, despite starting off with an argument with his daughter. As noon was approaching, he thought he’d make it up to her by making her a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. He was taken aback when instead of his daughter, he saw his own body on the floor in the living room coloring with markers.

“Honey?” Evan asked.

“Hi, Mommy! I’m hungry!” He heard his own body say.

Evan’s heart sank. She must have made a wish of her own. And that probably meant Kim was actually in their daughter’s body wandering around midtown somewhere. But if that was the case, shouldn’t she have noticed by now? Shouldn’t she be back so they could sort out this weird body swapping mess.

At least for now though, Evan was going to make a grilled cheese.

Princess

“Where’s my castle?” My formerly male roommate Max looked back at me and asked.

“What?” I asked, unsure of what he meant.

“You called me Princess. Princesses have castles. Why are we in this crappy apartment instead of a castle?”

This had been a problem, and it had only been getting worse. But I suppose it was all my fault. When we found the magic book, we found a spell that could transform someone’s gender. Max lost the bet. But once changed, he was so disagreeable. I searched the book for a solution. It didn’t take long to find a spell for a little hypnotic suggestion.

But it ended up working too well. A single sentence about being told he was always a woman convinced Max that was the case. But even off-handed comments became absolute canon in Max’s mind. I had called him a “princess,” and he was convinced he was one. I’m glad I didn’t call him a “b*tch.”

The Abduction

How Could I Say No?

I was obsessed with the idea of swapping bodies with women for the longest time. I dreamed about the idea regularly. I thought about all the different women I would want to swap bodies with. And granted, if I had to make a list of all those women, I doubt Jacquie would have been on it. However, when the opportunity knocked on my door to swap bodies with an actual woman -- well, all those ideals went out the window.

Which was exactly the opportunity I had with Jacquie. She wasn’t what I had dreamed of. Her hair wasn’t blonde, she was a little overweight, but she was a woman -- and she was willing to swap bodies with me. How could I say no?

It wasn’t as life changing as I thought it would be. But would I had to do it over again? Well, I would make the exact same choice again.

Video Message (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Video Message.

When Krissie got Brian’s message, she was pissed. She had already been waiting for an hour, and now he was saying she wasn’t going to show up while leaving her stuck in his body for who-know-how-long!?

No way. This wasn’t aceptable, and she tried to text back.

Message undeliverable.

He must’ve turned off his phone! She had to find him! Could she figure out which beach he was at by the video? He couldn’t have gotten too far, right? She’d force him to swap back now! As soon as possible! She couldn’t leave her stuck in his body any longer!

Empty

Michael barely had to dig through the trash at all before finding the bag devoid of the medallion. But he didn’t look at it with a sense of dread, he looked at with a sense of intuition.

“It’s empty,” He said showing it to Misu.

“Then it must have fallen out!” She replied, “We should keep looking!”

“I think we’re done, actually.”

“What do you mean? Without the Medallion of Zulo, we’ll never be able to swap back to our own bodies!”

Michael sighed, realizing this must have been Misu’s plan all along, “And that’s exactly what you wanted. You wanted to steal my body, and your plan this entire time was to leave me stuck in yours. Pretending to throw it away on accident was just part of the ruse. You needed to look desperate to want to switch back. It all means you either hid it somewhere or you tossed it some place earlier.” Michael paused for another moment to consider which Misu would do before adding, “So where did you actually toss it?”

Need for Speed (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Need for Speed.

After stretching for a bit to cool down, Tyson went to the locker room to change into this woman’s street clothes. He got some basic information about the life -- like where she lived and her phone.

Despite the chill inside, it was actually quite warm outside. He began texting just about everyone he could think of to try to get in touch with someone from his own life -- his mom, his girlfriend, even his original body -- but none of them answered.

At the same time, his phone was absolutely blowing up with questions from people in this woman’s life. He felt obliged to answer and explain that he -- like everyone else in the world -- was swapped by the Shift into this body.

The one person that didn’t seem to care was from one fan who seemed to now have her number and sent numerous inappropriate texts, mostly commenting on the muscular legs that Tyson now possessed. It made him self-conscious, especially in this skirt! Though even as he walked, he could feel how strong they were; it was hard to think about anything else!

Rooftop Party

It may have been out of character for Jack to arrive wearing a pink dress, but no one blinked an eye. It was a party in Brooklyn, after all; it was par for the course.

However, when Kara showed up, that changed. She was also dressed usually with a drab flannel shirt, baggy pants, and no makeup. She immediately began yelling at Jack.

No one wanted to get involved, but they overheard things about “keeping up appearances” and “body swapping.” From what people gathered, it sounded like absurd fantasy.

And yet the clothes Jack and Kara both wore were completely uncharacteristic of them. The argument they were having seemed genuine. Was it possible they had really swapped bodies with each other?

The Curious Case of Sam or Samantha

Officer

Crime didn’t take a break after the Great Shift, so the police couldn’t either. It didn’t matter whose body any of them had ended up in. A lot of them were lucky, just because they simply swapped bodies with their partner. Officer Roger O’Malley had been investigating a Gentleman’s Club, and had ended up swapping bodies with one of the dancers. It didn’t matter; he still had to be back to work the very next day.

So Roger reported to work in Misty’s body. He could hear some of the snickers from his fellow officers, but there was little he could do about it. He supposed the one fortunate thing was that he was scheduled for desk duty today; he’d hate to be out in the field like this. Though in the event of some sort of emergency, he could still be called out. Given the number of complaints since the Shift, he still considered that very likely.

Several Reasons

When the Great Shift happened, I was among a small group of people who ran. I don’t know why anyone else did so, but for me, it was a pure logical response. It was for several reasons.

For starters, finding myself in the body of a woman barely over five feet tall, I quickly decided a crowd was not the best place to be. A massive group of swapped people was also bound to be quite volatile. Again, given my new body’s stature, I don’t think I wanted to be involved in any fights or riots.

There was also the consideration of finding my own body, which wasn’t exactly close. The sooner I could get to it, the less likely it would move on itself.

And finally, well, this body did seem to be dressed for a good run, so why not?

Lungs

People often asked me what I noticed most about my new body. I was one of the few people in my neighborhood that was male before the Great Shift, and then found myself in a woman’s body afterward. I’m pretty sure they were expecting some sort of graphic details about my new gender -- but honestly? Gendered parts were among the smallest concerns with new body.

My lungs on the other hand were a huge issue. I’d get winded going up stairs. I couldn’t even figure out what caused it the first time it happened; it was just like I stopped breathing. When I found the inhaler in her purse, I was able to piece it all together.

When I tell people this, they always ask if I noticed what my chest felt like during the asthma attack. As if that would somehow be my primary concern! I tell them to shut up!

Video Message (Part 1)

Brian knew where he was supposed to be, and he also knew he wasn’t there right now. Instead he was enjoying himself on the beach, having probably one of the best days in recent memory.

But still, he knew he owed Krissie some answers, so he took out his phone so he could send a video message. He put on his best smile as he hit record.

“Hey, Krissie, I’m obviously not at the coffee shop. I’m not on the way. I know we were supposed to meet there this morning so we could swap our bodies back to normal, but I just wasn’t ready to do that yet. I want another day with your body...or maybe a week. Don’t make me feel too guilty about it, but I sort of loved being a woman...being you. Anyway, I’m sorry. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to swap back.”

Non-stop

The ability to fuse human and robot had grown immensely over the last several centuries. It wasn’t uncommon for people to replace parts of their body piece-by-piece with robot elements.

On the positive side, it allowed for people to achieve their ideal bodies. Xan may have been born a man, but he had always felt like a woman. The robot parts he bought for himself certainly reflected that, and he was happier about his body than he could ever remember.

On the other side, this process wasn’t cheap. Xan had done as much as he could afford so far, but he still had quite a way to go until he was was done. To help get himself there faster, he had been working two weeks without a break. Even forgoing things like eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom (none of which his mostly robotic needed, though the features could be turned on). It allowed him to earn faster.

Was non-stop work with no rest really the life he dreamed of when he had thought of himself as a woman?

Paradise Lost (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Paradise Lost.

The excitement of paradise didn’t last. It had only been three months or so, and Chase began realizing that the mundane aspects of life still maintained no matter where he lived or what body he was in.

For starters, it was just all the daily tasks like going to work or the grocery store that just became as routine as ever. They might’ve been exciting in a new place at first, but now? Well, they felt the same as they always had. And doing them all in a new body? It was kinf of the same.

Granted, it was certainly fun for a while to explore femininity and makeup an exciting clothes. But now? He just wanted to throw on yoga pants and a sweater and grab a frozen meal from the supermarket to eat alone in peace.

Trips to the beach had dwindled, and wearing a bikini just no longer had the same thrill.

Was this paradise?

Scared and Confused

The news reports would begin flooding in the hours after the Shift. People were glued to their screens with the stories of violence and fighting, but in my own experience, most of us were just confused and scared.

The bus had been late, and there were a lot of us waiting. I was thinking about how none of us would get a seat and probably most of us wouldn’t even fit. It seemed like such a simple, innocent thought in hindsight.

The flash came at the same time as a breeze and I felt an odd cool air rustle the fabric on my legs. I looked down, my whole body seemed thin and unfamiliar. I inspected my now female body, touching it to make sure it was real -- unsure how this could be mine now. It seems the others waiting were all doing the same. We weren’t angry at each other; we weren’t fighting like the news reports later told us; we were all just scared and confused.

"Full System Reboot"

I actually didn't give this one a proper title. There are a few options I considered.

Bounced Back

Robert crossed his arms over his chest. He had spent the last ten minutes arguing with this woman, explaining that she wasn’t on the list to get into the club. She wouldn’t take no for an answer, and now somehow they had swapped bodies!? The worst part? She was still pestering him to get in.

“If I’m in your body,” She tried to reason, “Doesn’t that technically mean I’m allowed inside now?”

“We may have swapped bodies, but I still have a job to do. You’re not getting in there.” He replied.

“Now that I have your body, I could beat you up. Or just toss you aside!”

“I don’t think you’d do anything to harm your own body.”

“Well, in my body, you don’t look intimidating! How are you going to stop anyone else from getting in?”

“This job is more about attitude than muscle!”

Re-Invent

It is often said that college is a time to re-invent oneself. Whether you were cool or a nerd or the class clown in high school, no one in college would be aware of any of it. That was especially true in the years following the Great Shift when people had a particular interest in trying to forge a new life with whatever new body they might now have.

Sydney was particularly happy when he arrived at college, and people perceived him as the bookish woman he appeared to be. He never had to tell people he was once a jock or the star of the football team. He felt like he would finally be appreciated for his brain, and he was more than happy to play up the part. He acted shy with nervous waves; he wore skirts when he went out. No one even asked who he was before, and no one cared. And he loved that.

Self-Betrayal

It had been less than five minutes since Luke had become a woman due to his choices while driving the Magic Taxi; he was already regretting it. When his own body was stolen about a week prior, the decision to become a woman was not immediate. Becoming a man, of course, made much more sense. But it was his own attraction that likely betrayed him.

There was nothing exciting or alluring about the men that came into his cab. The same wasn't true of the women. Picking the most interesting was going to be the real challenge.

He saw her even before she hailed the cab as the blonde took short little steps on her chunky heels. Now that he was in her in her body, he understood those movement intimately. It wasn’t just the heels that contributed to the small steps, but also the short tight skirt.

There was no way he was able to keep up the gorgeous feminine mystique of her body as he moved it around like a clumsy, awkward man.

Bad Luck to See the Bride

Pete’s family always said it was bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding, but he was never one for any sort of superstition. And so with minutes before the ceremony, he went to check in on his bride-to-be. A strange flash of light, and the worst luck of all befell Pete as he found himself in the body of his own bride-to-be.

To complicate the matter, whoever was now inside his body seemed to be a clear lunatic. He told himself that if this was a simple body swap, it might’ve been easier -- but it started to seem like everyone he encountered had swapped bodies with someone else.

He was blaming himself. All because he wanted to see the love of his life for a moment before their wedding! Of course, it really had nothing to do with that; it was all just merely coincidentally timed right in line with...The Great Shift!

Disturbia (Part 1)

It had to be the weirdest day at work that Patrick could recall. Technically, he was still just an entry level employee, but he had swapped bodies with one of the managers -- a middle aged blonde woman by the name of Cheryl. She had been nice enough to give him a sweatshirt to cover up, as he felt quite exposed by the sleeveless white dress she had chosen to wear that day.

The company researchers promise to have everyone back in the right body tomorrow, and the lawyers promised a big bonus if everyone could keep a secret. An so Patrick found himself on a commuter train back to the suburbs that night. Cheryl had given him a rundown of anything he might need to know.

Though she had two kids, they were both off to college already, and fortunately her husband was out of town on a business trip. Patrick told her about his crappy apartment in the City with the roommate he never talks to. He was hoping for a very uneventful evening and that the swap back would happen first thing in the morning.

We Are One

Face to Face

About a week after the Great Shift, they were making us all come back into the office. None of us really wanted to, but they tried to say explain it by telling us people working in grocery stores or at the docks didn’t the luxury of working at home at all. They tried to ease us in by easing the dress code. It wasn’t much comfort.

Based on the way she looked at me in the break room, I don’t think Marie liked seeing me dress her body in sneakers and gray sweats. Of course, she might just not like seeing me in her body at all, but what could I do about that?

The Great Shift had plopped me into her body and that was that. It was probably easier for both us back when we only had the rare interaction on a Zoom call, but running into each other face to face? Yeah, it was awkward.

Speeding

Officer Nelson could tell the woman he had just pulled over for speeding seemed nervous. He asked for her license and registration as she began to dig through the mess in her front seat. Ultimately, given the fact that she was about twenty and just so nerve-racked, he decided to tell her to forget it and give her a warning.

As he turned to walk away, she pleaded. “Please don’t go!” She said, “I don’t think you understand. I don’t know where my license or registration is because this isn’t my car. This isn’t even my body.I had no idea I was speeding, because I just suddenly found myself behind the wheel. I didn’t even notice yu when I pulled over; I was just pulling over, regardless. I don’t know how this happened. I’m a 43 year old man!”

Officer Nelson was now thinking this woman was simply crazy. That is, until he started to hear others start saying the exact same sort of thing.

That's Rich

The medallion had allowed Anthony to steal Mandy’s life. He thought it would be better than it turned out to be. She lived in a mansion in the hills; she came from a rich family.

He knew he should’ve been suspicious when she didn’t seem upset after the swap. It didn’t take him too long to realize that it seemed Mandy’s life was falling apart. It seems her parents weren’t as rich as they seemed with their assets caught up in poor investments, which was revealed upon their deaths a few months ago. The mansion was a mess inside and falling apart; Mandy didn’t have the finances to properly maintain such a large property.

Once the twelve hours were up, Mandy had no desire to switch back. Fortunately, Anthony still had the medallion. He could probably trick someone else into taking Mandy’s life, but who?

Need for Speed (Part 1)

Tyson sat at the side of the rink contemplating what had just happened. Whereas he had been watching the speedskating competition of the teleivision moments ago, he soon found himself on the ice moving at incredible speeds. He had no idea what he was doing, but somehow managed to fall without hurting himself.

Discovering he was in the body of one of the female speedskaters, he just as quickly discovered he was not alone. Everyone in the entire area was in the wrong body.

He wasn’t able to think much about his new body; it was in too much pain. At first, he thought it might have been from the fall, but it was too focused in his legs. No, this was the sort of pain an elite athlete felt from pushing their body to the absolute limits. And that body was now his.

Books

If there was going to be anything in this college library about how to reverse a body swap, this seemed to be the correct section. Of course, Daniel had never been in this part of the library before; he had never even considered such a section would even exist in this library.

Maybe he was able to find it because he was currently affected by magic after swapping bodies with Maggie. Or maybe he just lucked out.

But amongst all this spooky stuff, there had to be a book about magical body swapping though, right? He pulled one of the books out, and was sorely disappointed. It was an outdated text on 1700s biology. In fact, while most of the books were rare, old, and interesting -- the subject of magic just wasn’t among the topics...whatever happened to him and Maggie that caused this body swap, he was likely stuck like this!

Work-Life Balance (Part 1)

Kim and Evan lived a pretty good life. They were married and living in a suburban neighborhood with their 5-year-old daughter. Evan made enough for the family, but Kim had been trying to get back into the work force. It had been difficult with the gap on her resume, but Evan kept encouraging her.

It was likely an idle wish about getting back to work that caused the swap. Kim, now in Evan’s body, was happy to be going into an office and was sure she could do the job with ease. Evan didn’t exactly hate being in Kim’s body either. He was going to finally get some additional time to bond with his daughter before she started school after his hectic work scheduled for the past few months.

It was nerve-wracking to have swapped bodies, sure. But for a little while at least, it didn’t seem like it would be that bad.

Drawn Out

Jake had been drawing the webcomic for a few years now. Mei had been introduced as a side character. People online had fallen in love with her, and Jake quickly shifted the series focus to her character. Because he used a gender neutral pseudonym, people assumed the comic was autobiographical and that he was Mei. He knew everyone would be disappointed to learn the artist was actually just some dumb white guy. He often thought about revealing who he was, but he was so hesitant.

As he grappled with the decision, the changed began to start. They were subtle at first, like needing to shave less often or a slight change in his taste in clothing. When he finally felt confident to take a selfie and post a bio to his site, he was startled by his own reflection. He looked almost exactly like his character Mei. It was surreal. It had all happened so slowly. Yet here he now stood in the body of an Asian woman. At least there was no reason for him to hide anymore.

Extra Credit (Episode 2)

View Episode 1 of Extra Credit.

Keep It Safe

Shayne held the orb in his hand. It granted him the power to manipulate physical reality in any way he saw fit, and understanding the extent of what this meant was still hard to wrap his head around.

And yet he hadn’t made any changes with the orb for several days now. Once he used it to transform himself into a woman, everything else didn’t seem to matter much. It was the one thing that had made him whole and content; what more could be possibly want?

But he also felt it was his responsibility to keep the orb safe now. If someone else got a hold of it, there was no telling what damage they could do. They might have more desires than he did; perhaps evil desires. The orb would stay with him; he would keep it safe.