Journal

No one could explain why or how reality shifted that day. Scientists began to study the whole thing extensively, but the changes left no physical trace behind. People started talking about how the trees and grass used to have a purple tint to them, and I couldn’t tell if they were bullshitting me or not -- because I couldn’t remember if they did; I thought they had always been green.

Then I started to realize how many memories of my old self were missing. I remembered being a male professor instead of a female college student, but I couldn’t even recall the subject I used to teach, so I decided to start writing down what I could remember of who I once was.

The more I wrote down, the more the holes in my memory became apparent. I’d even go back a few days earlier to re-read things, and the memory I had described in the passage seemed like it happened to another person. We were all adjusting to the new reality, and it was terrifying.

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.

Take a Vacation!

Mary had to really convince her husband Calvin to take a vacation with the rest of the family. He was a workaholic who put in long hours in order to provide for his family. While he may have seemed distant, this was simply the way he showed his love. Still, he finally relented and ageed to go to the beach resort with Mary and the kids.

He so wished he hadn’t.

There was a strange electrical storm one night that must have mixed with something in the air, causing people in the area to switch bodies. Calvin woke up in the body of a college woman on a weekend trip with her sorority sisters.He could only think of two things: The first was how there was no way he’d be able to go back to the office like this. The second (and much more important) was the state of his family. He had been trying to call them ever since he had awoken to no luck. He could only hope they were okay.

Fair

If Howard could give the body he got from the Great Shift back, he would. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy it; he most certainly did. He loved being young again. He hadn’t felt this good in over 40 years, and he was certainly never this flexible ever! But he would give it up simply because it didn’t seem fair.

The poor woman whose body he had was merely 20 years old. She should have had her whole life ahead of her. Howard had been pushing 80; he had already lived a full life.

However, there wasn’t a way to undo the effects of the Great Shift. There was no solution in sight to reversing it. Body swapping had been pure science fiction before the Shift, and it remained so after. No one had been working on any secret technology. It just was, and everyone just had to keep moving forward.

On Campus

An accident on campus five years ago had shuffled everyone’s bodies around. Students had mostly swapped with other students, and most of them had graduated and moved on. Professor Mark Franks had been one of the rare teachers that ended up swapping bodies with a freshman.

As the years passed, new classmen arriving on campus would often just assume he was another student, particularly the young men who found his body quite attractive. He had to turn down many invites to frat parties and keggers -- often doing so by explaining the accident and some campus history while revealing his situation.

He was probably lucky that most of his classes still took him seriously. Of course, he’d like to believe his years of experience shined through no matter how young he appeared on the outside. It was weird to think he’d be celebrating his 60th birthday soon while his body hadn’t even technically turned 25.

Happiness

“I should be happy, right?” Vick Gaul lamented as he spoke with his psychiatrist. “I used to be a guy in my early 20s who never applied himself. I dropped out of community college and had a dead end job in fast food. I wanted nothing more than to never work another day of my life. Then the Great Shift happened, and it theoretically gave me everything I wanted. Mrs. Birch was rich -- like billionaire rich -- and she insists on me not working now that I’m in her body. She pays for everything I could ever want, even these sessions. So why am I not happy?”

“Well, Mr. Gaul, let me ask you,” His psychiatrist responded, “Do you suppose happiness is more than what you thought it would be?”

“What do you mean?”

“Perhaps you are more upset about the things you’ve lost than the things you’ve gained. For instance, I might have become forty years younger as a result of the Shift, but being a young woman has destroyed my marriage to my life. Being able to be young and continue my life’s work and research makes me incredibly happy, but not nearly as much as my family did. It’s been a trade off for everyone.”

“I mean, I guess being an older woman sucks, but I’m not even sure that’s too terrible. I wasn’t sure my former body would’ve lived beyond 30 the way I was living anyway. But, I dunno, maybe I do just miss something about it.”

Not Wrong

‘Oh, she’s angry,’ Larry thought as he took a selfie of himself and noticed his former body in the background shaking a fist while wheezing and coughing. On the one hand, he was impressed. After stealing this young woman’s body, he had run around the block, and she had still managed to follow. His former body wasn’t in great shape, and he would’ve expected it to pass out from a heart attack or something. On the other hand, she was probably going to be an annoying pest, yelling about how he had stolen her body.

She wasn’t wrong, but what could she really do about it? She had no idea how he did it. There was no way for her to undo it. Anyone listening would think she was just a crazy old man harassing a poor, helpless young woman. It really wouldn’t matter in the long run, but it just would’ve been easier if she had accepted that her body was his. Now he had to do this the hard way and find a cop.

50 More Years

Charles remembered the days before the Great Shift when he used to have to lean over to kiss his wife Linda. Now he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach her lips. Not that he had any complaints about the Shift at all!

When the Shift happened, he and Linda were both in their 70s; they had been married for 50 years. Neither weren’t exactly how sure their new bodies were, but Charles often estimated they would now probably have another 50 years together.

Of course, one of the effects of the Shift was that they were both women now. One day, Linda asked Charles if it bothered him that they were both women now.

“Love is love,” Charles said with a shrug, “Never had a problem with gay people before; not gonna start now that I am one; never voted for the bigots against them either.”

Linda smiled. Her husband rarely talked politics; he just wasn’t the type. She had always thought he was somewhat conservative, so it surprised her -- but that was just Charles being Charles, even after 50 years, he still surprised her. It was one of the many things she had always loved about it -- finding new things to love about him.

Nature's Way

“I know...I know what you did to that poor woman,” Norman wheezed as he sat up in his hospital bed upon seeing the nurse enter, “You thought I was asleep when the nurse came in last night, but I saw you. With whatever evil Satanic stuff you pulled, you swapped into her body. You left her to die in your body. It’s not right. We’re old men, or at least we were. It’s nature’s way to one day pass, but you cheated it all and stole that young woman’s life.”

Marvin scowled in response, but quickly put on a happy face. No matter how right Norman was, he couldn’t actually admit it. “Come on now, Mr. Lewis, it sounds like you are hallucinating. I might advise the doctor to increase your meds, and you share the same wild stores with him, he probably will,” Marvin responded, “I know you don’t have many days left, but I can imagine they will be very unpleasant ones if you threaten your nurses.”

“I’m not threatening anyone...”

“It sure sounded like one to me. But don’t worry, I am committed to making your last days here as comfortable as possible no matter how brief they might be...”

Nurse!

“Nurse Yumi!” The doctor shouted, “Please pull yourself together! We need your help or we’ll lose the patient!”

“He’s already gone,” She replied flatly.

“I’m telling you we can still save him. Are you questioning my medical expertise?”

“No, I’m saying...I AM him. His spirit is gone. If left his body, and its in...here.” She said as she gestured to her heart.

“Quit with the gibberish and get over here.”

And so she walked over and listened to what the doctor told her, but she knew it was hopeless. She knew she was even qualified to be a nurse; that she was actually just the old man dying in front of her but now in the body of this nurse instead. It would be easier for everyone if they simply let her former body pass on.

The Movement

Fiona had joined The Movement in hopes of achieving a sense of belonging. In hindsight, she knew she should’ve been more suspicious. But for some reason, all the warning signs about the movement being a cult passed her by until the strange ceremony that resulted in her swapping bodies with an older man named Jacob.

“I want out of this cult!” She finally demanded.

“It’s not a cult,” Jacob replied from inside Fiona’s body. It disturbed her so much to hear him speaking these words with her voice, “And you’re allowed to leave at any time

“But I want to leave with MY body!”

“What you don’t seem to understand is that it isn’t your body anymore. It belongs to The Movement, and The Movement has assigned it to me. It is one of the many sacrifices we all make when we join. We all give ourselves to The Movement -- our money, our resources, our bodies. We are rewarded by how much we give. I have given millions of dollars and countless hours of work to be rewarded with this body on The Alignment. You may leave now as you are, or continue to put more effort to be better rewarded at the time of the next Alignment. The choice is yours, Jacob.”

“My name is Fiona!”

“No, I am Fiona. You are Jacob. That is who The Alignment says you are.”

Fiona cried. She wanted to leave. But maybe if she stayed until the next Alignment, there was a chance she’d get her body back...

Bad News

Megan and Ryan had been dating for a few years. They were in their mid-30s and often talked about getting married. Megan was sure Ryan was going to ask any day now. When the Great Shift happened, and Megan ended up in the body of a 59-year-old woman, she was sure it would accelerate their plans. After all, she wasn’t getting any younger! And one day when Ryan asked to sit down with her in their apartment, she was sure this was it. The bad news blindsided her.

Despite Ryan now being in the body of a 19-year-old woman, he rarely acted like it. But in this situation, he was fumbling his words as he explained why he was breaking up with Megan. He touched on their age difference; he mentioned how he was finding himself attracted to guys; he talked about how he labored over the decision.

Megan didn’t say much. She just listened as Ryan drifted from point to point; she also knew he was right. She could just feel it was doomed in her heart. The only reason she had wanted it to work was because of how nice it had been before the Shift, but with their new bodies, they were absolutely growing apart. She finally told him to stop speaking, and simply said it was all okay and that she accepted it.

Succession (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Succession.

It didn’t take long for Everett to learn why the woman who sold her to him did it for such a low amount. It wasn’t just because she was desperate; it was because she thought she could take advantage of things once she was in his body. However, she was quite out of her league.

Everett had already sold his corporation and stashed much of his fortune in off-shore, unnamed accounts. With all the correct passwords, he was able to gain access to his funds, buying back a controlling interest. He was quickly able to squash any legal claims she thought she had. The biggest victory she had was maintaining possession of his mansion -- though he imagined the property taxes would come to bite her at the end of the year, if she even managed to live that long!

Everett tried not to give his former body a second thought, but every few months, something new would pop up. He was surprised at how many years this continued! He knew his old body was tough, but it was still no match for this young body with his keen, business-oriented brain inside of it!

No Case

Jim always hated giving his clients this type of news, but he stood in front of them and sighed, “Quite honestly, and I hate to break it to you, but you don’t have much of a case against the university.”

“How do we not have a case? We were at the school when it happened. They’re clearly at fault here. I swapped into the body of my own student because of them! I’m a tenured professor trapped in a nineteen year old woman’s body for Christ’s sake!” Professor Howard Powell protested.

“Look, I believe you, I do,” Jim sighed again, “But the courts need evidence. Quite frankly, we can’t come up with any! There’s not even any proof that you two have even swapped bodies at all! We did brain scans on oth your bodies, and Miss Lim doesn’t have any prior scans to match up with, but Howard, you do. The scans still line with your body, not with where you say your mind is.”

“But I know I’m me,” Howard stated again from inside Grace Lim’s body, “And surely the university knows something.”

“If they do, we haven’t been able to uncover any record of it. We literally have nothing to go at them with. If I were in your position, Howard, I would enjoy my new lease on life; take as much advantage as you can being young again. And if I were you, Miss Lim, I’d say you should enjoy the financial security that comes with being a tenured professor. There’s really nothing they can do to fire you; even if you do a terrible job teaching. Enjoy your new lives, appreciate them. Maybe if your lucky; it’ll all just reverse on its own...”

Succession (Part 1)

Everett had invested a good portion of his fortune in his efforts to extend his life. The doctors researching brain transplants cost him millions, financial advisors to ensure continued control of his businesses were in the tens of millions, a good deal would be lost according to his lawyers simply from juristictions that wouldn’t allow his new body to claim certain aspects.

But the body itself? Well, he was able to purchase that for about $100,000. He could almost laugh at how desperate some poor people were! And this woman had been in dire straits. She was about to be kicked out of her home and onto the streets, and turning to vile acts as a way to earn a living. And yet she gave up decades of her life to Everett in exchange for cash. He wondered how long she even had left to live in his 80-year-old body, especially considering the brain transplant probably weakened it. He ultimately decided it wasn’t much of a concern to him now that his brain was now in her younger, healthy body!

Insurance

The old man at the bank had been so kind when Isabella Garcia had signed up for her loan, but she soon fell behind on the payments. She didn’t want to ignore the threatening letters as they arrived, but what choice did she have? It’s not like she had the money. Then things got really weird.

She woke up one morning with aching pain. Her hands were wrinkled and rough. She looked in the mirror to see the face of the old man looking back. She rushed down to the bank to find her own body sitting at the old man’s desk.

“What did you do?” She hissed at him.

“It’s all in the policy you signed,” He replied, “This is a bit of an insurance policy for us here at the bank. As you can probably tell, my body was old, 72 to be exact. I couldn’t work much more, and I wasn’t happy about that. Neither was the bank. But now that you put your body up for collateral; well, I can easily work another twenty to thirty years like this. The bank wins. I win. And your loan is forgiven. Can you really complain?”

Dirty Laundry (Part 5)

View Part 1 of Dirty Laundry.
View Part 2 of Dirty Laundry.
View Part 3 of Dirty Laundry.
View Part 4 of Dirty Laundry.

While May was absolutely miserable in the body of Mike’s dad, her mom was actually quite pleased to be in Mike’s body. But she had a confession and she wasn’t sure who else to tell, so she approached Mike’s dad.

When she first got close, he pulled back, but she told him they had to act like Mike and May normally would, and that meant being affectionate and sharing a few secrets. He ultimately relented and let her kiss him. Mike’s dad felt May’s body react to the kiss and hated himself for enjoying it so much.

That’s when May’s mom dropped the bomb. She had intended to steal her daughter’s body; somehow Mike and his dad just got in the way. Despite not being the actual plan, she loved being in Mike’s body and was planning on keeping it -- and if she didn’t swap back, that meant no one would. Mike would be forever stuck in the body of May’s mom; Mike’s dad would be inside of May; and May would be stuck in his body -- all for good. Mike’s dad wasn’t quite sure how to react. He tried to force a smile, thinking it might not be best to piss off a woman who would and could steal someone else’s body so readily.

The Intern

Ed was usually pretty tolerant of the dumb things his co-workers would do the computers at the office. As the IT guy, he had seen some pretty dumb things, after all. But still, from time to time, he’d see something that would upset him. For instance, the new intern, Stef, had come to see him three times today -- on her first day! The only thing that stopped him from yelling at her was the rumors that she was the daughter of one of the higher ups.

However, she had managed to get a virus on her machine that was like nothing he had ever seen before! From what he could tell, it was re-writing the funtions of the computer’s hardware! And just when he thought he had it figured out, the machine zapped him and the intern.

The next thing he knew, he was in her body while his own body lay lifeless on the floor. It was still breathing, but when he realized he could access his own memories as well as Stef’s, he couldn’t help but think there wasn’t much left in his former body. Not that he really minded! The idea of living the life of a rich, spoiled brat seemed somewhat appealing!

Dirty Laundry (Part 4)

View Part 1 of Dirty Laundry.
View Part 2 of Dirty Laundry.
View Part 3 of Dirty Laundry.

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

Dirty Laundry (Part 3)

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

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