Falling Down

Sayuri watched as Jason fell on his butt and laughed about it yet again. It wasn’t just that he was failing so often, it was about his attitude. Did he not know how serious this was for her?

Yes, they had swapped bodies. That meant he would have to be the one competing in her gymnastics tournament tomorrow. He didn’t need to be win or be perfect; he just needed to be good enough to not threaten her scholarship. And, quite honestly, right now he was probably performing at a level that would get her kicked off the team. Yet he still somehow thought it was funny every time he fell on his butt?

She continued to coach him through the night, but it felt like she made absolutely no progress. She was sure that if they didn’t swap back, she was going to get kicked out of college, and then who knows what he would do with her body!?

Attacked!

“Whatever the hell just happened, it happened to everyone in the stadium, I think,” Trayvon said as he fell to his knees, realizing he was in the body of a reporter on the sidelines instead of playing on the field.

“What are you talking about, Janet?” He heard a voice coming from an earpiece in his ear say.

“That’s what I’m talking about. I’m NOT Janet. I was a linebacker, but now I’m in her body. I’m not the only one. I’m telling you that it’s EVERYONE; at least everyone in the stadium. I’m not sure how...or why...”

The voice continued in his earpiece. It now seemed to just be reporting and ignoring what Trayvon had to say completely. “We just received word of a person claiming responsibility for the attack on the stadium. It seems to be some sort of mad scientist taking credit for the body swapping attack. And he seems to have a list of demands. We’re going to play the video now, but we should warn the viewers that these are the words of a terrorist that we are playing unedited, as we feel doing so is in the public interest...”

Wiped Out on the Slopes

Shaun was skiing down the slopes when he suddenly lost his balance and began toppling down into the snow. It didn’t make sense. He was a pro; he hadn’t fallen down in over a decade. But as he began to recover and try to get back on his feet, he realized exactly why he lost his balance -- he had swapped into a very unfamilar body, and that body was a woman’s body!

It was difficult to stand; his balance was still off. Being a woman just had weight in all sorts of different places than he was used to. But he couldn’t just stay wiped out in the snow. Whereas moments ago, he was effortless cruising down the slopes, and now he was struggling to walk without falling down again.

Switching Teams

The noise from the crowd was now louder than when Tyler scored the last touchdown. Of course, instead of cheers, it was now the sound of anger and confusion that echoed through the stadium. The Great Shift had just swapped the bodies of everyone inside along with the rest of the world.

Tyler was, of course, just as confused as anyone now that he found himself on the other side of the field in the body of one of the cheerleaders from the opposing team.

His first thoughts were about how his playing days were probably over and thinking about what he was going to do next. Then he wondered what he even COULD do next, given the fact that he was now in a body he was certainly very unfamiliar with. And finally, he was thankfully that this body was on the field and not in the crowds, which was starting to sound increasingly like it was getting violent. Luckily, he knew a way to get out quickly before people started storming on...

Teed Off (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Teed Off.

By the time they finished the ninth hole, Harold, Frank, and Wilson were really regretting their wager. Larry was so comfortably below par that the other three had little hope of catching up. They had expected Larry to gloat, but he was actually being fairly stoic about the whole thing.

“Well now that I think I’ve shut you all up,” Larry finally confessed, “If you had asked instead of just ripping into me, I probably would’ve mentioned that the body I swapped into had been a professional golfer. I’m still nowhere near as good as she was, but her natural abilities certainly helps me easily beat the three of you.”

“Okay, okay, we get it,” Frank sighed, “We’re sorry. So, I take it the bet’s off?”

“Oh, hell, no. When we get back to the club house, I expect you to pay up.”

Teed Off (Part 1)

When Larry arrived at the country club for the first time after the Great Shift, his three friends were shocked. It seemed all of them had been lucky enough to not swap bodies with anyone, except (of course) for Larry.

“Well, ain’t you a pretty little thing now,” Frank laughed as he saw Larry’s new body for the first time.

“It’s not like being rich made us immunte to the effects of the Great Shift,” Larry tried to reason, “The rest of you all just happened to get very lucky. Besides, it’s not like there aren’t some advantages...”

“Yeah, like you can use the ladies’ tee.” Joked Harold.

“You know what?” Larry fumed, “$10,000 says I can beat all of your old butts today...and I’ll even use the back tees.”

They shook on it as Harold whispered to Frank, “This is gonna be the easiest money we make all week.”

Score a Victory

The university football coach was freaking out. The Great Shift had just happened, and he found himself in the body of a cheerleader. His new body, he could quickly shake off, but many of his players seemed to be in no position to continue. He guessed other people were now inside their bodies just like he was. More than half simply refused to play with a number of them telling him it was a barbaric sport. Some just weren’t able -- either seemingly incapacitated or they didn’t know any rules.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw a group of people exiting the locker room in uniform. His heart sank when they explained they were the players and they had swapped into the bodies of the school’s women’s robotic team. The biggest one probably was 5’2” and likely weighed 110 pounds at most. He couldn’t send his team out on the field in the body of these women! It wouldn’t be ethical! They’d be crushed.

That’s when he finally noticed the other team, who seemed to be in not much better shape than his was. Maybe he did have a chance to finish this game and score a victory...

Just a Game (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Just a Game.
View Part 2 of Just a Game.

Logan was generally surprised when he received two plane tickets in the mail and a reservation at a hotel that was completely paid for. He didn’t know who sent it, but he didn’t ask questions; he really needed a vacation and just couldn’t afford one. He was just as surprised when a driver at the airport has a sign with his name on it...or rather Angela’s name, which he had now been using for the past few years. He was worried when the driver didn’t go towards the hotel, but began to realize what was up when the car pulled up to the local stadium instead.

He was brought out onto the field, where Angela arrived several minutes later. She told about being signed to a multi-year contract for millions of dollars. She wanted him to know first that it had actually happened, before any leaks. Logan began to cry with happiness, but it didn’t end there. Angela would be sending Logan a large chunk of that money. Now Logan was really crying hard. He knew it would change everything. He thanked Angela; she thanked him. They began to cry together on the field.

Just a Game (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Just a Game.

The good news was that Angela in Logan’s body pulled through and got several offers to play for several college teams. The bad news was that Logan and Angela never swapped back. Or, at least, that was the start of the bad news. While Logan had never been a bad student, he still only had a high school education. Keeping up with Angela’s job proved impossible. With no real experience, he ended up with a job as a waitress. He was on his feet all day, the hours were long, an the pay wasn’t great.

He enjoyed following the career of his former body. Angela seemed to be doing a fantastic job on the field, and he even followed the rumors about signings with a major league team. He thought he’d be jealous, but he was actually happy for her.

Just a Game (Part 1)

Logan sat alone in the stands watching the high school baseball game. The rest of the crowd were parents and recruiters, and he just didn’t want to give a reason why a 40-year-old woman with no relation to anyone on the field was there watching a bunch of 18-years-old play this game. The real reason why, of course, he was sure no one would believe. Logan had somehow swapped bodies with this woman, Angela, and neither knew why or how to swap back. He watched Angela on the field, hoping she would do well enough in his body to catch the attention of the recruiters. He had spent the last few days teaching her everything he knew, he could only hope it was enough. And, at this point, he could only hope they would swap back to be able to enjoy any of this success! As so far, neither could find any clues about how to get back to normal!

Soccer Mom

It was the first soccer game of Raul’s college career. He had gotten a small scholarship to be the first in his family to attend university, and his parents were even in the crowd gathered under cloudy skies. Raul had managed to score the only goal by the time the rains came at around the half (not bad for the college freshman), causing a delay. While they waited, a bolt of lightning struck the field causing a phenomenon that had never been recorded before or since -- a mass body swap. Players, referees, coaches, and fans all found them swapped around. Raul ended up in the body of his own mother! He was now around 40 years old and a woman, but he wasn’t going to let either of those deter him. Once the rains cleared, he insisted on continuing to play. The refs discussed canceling the game completely, but enough players were like Raul and insisted going on. Raul realized the odds were against him. The other team mostly swapped with other players (either on the same team or his) and one now had the body of a professional who was in the stands. Despite this, his team pulled off the win. To the top it off, the only other goal scored after everyone was swapped was Raul, despite now being in the body of his own 40-year-old mother.

Halftime (Part 2)

View Part 1 here.

Stephanie coughed when the pink smoke puffed out from behind the cheerleaders. She thought she was going to die, but then suddenly felt stranger -- though much less flexible. Just about everything felt wrong, and when she looked down to see two very manly pecs in place of her own feminine chest, she screamed. Her voice was deeper than she expected, which only made her want to scream again. She looked over to the players to see her own body sitting there in Bryan’s uniform. She looked down at her new muscles again. They certainly looked like his! She had spent plenty of time admiring his body from afar, and now she was going to be able to examine it in a way that was closer than any woman should ever be able to! She was Bryan! And he was her! Chaos ensued for the rest of halftime, but the officials (who were unswapped) insisted the game go on. It was decided the cheerleaders with the players bodies would be the ones to take the field. Stephanie was nervous. She didn’t know anything about how to actually play football, and she was also very worried that she was going to get hurt!

Halftime (Part 1)

It was halftime at the football game. Bryan knew his team was down by a touchdown, but he was sure they could make it up in the second half. Truth be told, he loved halftime. Cheerleaders would take the field and he could just watch and enjoy. As they were doing their routines, he saw more pyrotechnics than he expected. There were sparks and a weird pink smoke that seemed to extend all the way to where the players sat and also blocked his view. When it cleared all the cheerleaders had been replaced by buff guys wearing the cheerleaders’ uniforms. Bryan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be disgusted. But then he realized the guys were his fellow teammates, and even stranger -- one of the guys was him!

Then he looked down. It was hard to tell beneath his own uniform, but something was different. The hands that stuck out of from the sides were smaller and thinner. The dainty fingers he now possessed had painted nails. He was a chick! He one was one the cheerleaders! How could he possibly continue to play football like this!? The other players and the cheerleaders were freaking out as well.

Lose Yourself to Dance

As soon as dance class was over, James came back to the field. He hadn’t even bothered changing clothes. The football team wasn’t outside practicing, which meant Coach was probably humiliating them inside after a someone on the team screwed up the drills. James could only assume it was Alicia in his body that had screwed it up for everyone. He had tried to fill her in as best as he could, but he had to explain in about an hour everything he had learned about football over the course of many years. Plus, it’s not like he did much better in her dance class! If they ever swapped back, her class would probably make fun of her to no end. “If,” He sighed aloud, thinking about what would happen if he was stuck in Alicia’s body forever. Would he start to get better at this whole ballet thing? Would he enjoy it? He shuddered. He had only agreed to go because otherwise Alicia said she’d skip his football practice. But what if was never going to get back to his own body? What good would all this be for? He tried not to think much more about it. He just hoped Coach would bring the team back out on the field and finish up soon enough, so he could figure out the next step with Alicia.

Training (Part 2)

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As the days and weeks began to pass, Jack felt pretty strange about being in another student’s body, the body of a young Japanese woman named Ai. He spent many hours wondering what lesson his coach was trying to teach. He had said something about having a better team by just picking random people, but the first few games had been horrible with others inside the bodies of the football players.

Then it started to dawn on him. Maybe his coach wanted to show that they were all too dependent on the strength of their bodies and not utilizing their learned skills. He thought about the rest of the team and not one of them swapped into what he would call an athletic body. Jack had assumed from the moment he swapped with Ai that it would get crushed if he even tried to step on the field, but maybe it wouldn’t? Maybe he could just as good in her body as he would in his own. He decided he’d get back to the field and insist coach let him try.

Training

Jack was pretty excited to be starting his college football career, but he had to admit the coach for his university was pretty intense. The training before the school year started was nothing short of grueling. But once the other students arrived, things got weird. The Coach yelled at Jack and the other players, telling them they were worthless, not worth their scholarships, and he might as well pluck random students from the quad to take their place. In the next instant, Jack felt woozy and passed out. When he awoke, he was in the body of another student. He was probably more than half his former weight, over a foot shorter, Asian, and female! He nervously walked down some stairs and made his way back to the field. A few of the other players also in new bodies were there. A few of the senior members on the team told Jack this sort of thing was normal for the coach. He always tried to do something outlandish to teach them about about working hard or being a team. Part of the challenge was trying to figure out the lesson. Jack tried to process the information, but he was justifiably a little to freaked out right now!

Skills

Chad wasn’t initially worried when his girlfriend Katie found a spell online to swap bodies. She asked to try it, and he laughed it off. He wasn’t laughing nearly as hard after it worked. Still, he tried not to let it get to him. He knew he had to train for the upcoming season of baseball, and he figured the fundamentals were the same regardless of what body he was in.

However, once he started to practice, he wondered if it wasn’t just bodies that he swapped with her but skills as well. He’d throw the ball into the air and then whiff. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t hit it. He had a certain sense that he was taking an incorrect stance or holding the bat wrong or just swinging poorly. However, as he tried to search his mind, he couldn’t quite remember the right way to do any of those things. In fact, part of him was feeling that baseball was just a little bit boring. Now he was starting to worry.

Sideline (Part 4)

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Click here for Part 2.
Click here for Part 3.

Colin was glad his other former teammates were much more supportive than Jerome. Of course, many of them ha to be. When Tyler arrived on the field, he was glad to see a smile on his face. Colin just had to smile back. Tyler probably had among the worst luck of any player. He had swapped with a fan in the crowd, an 80 year old woman. He had gone from being a fit, young man to needing a walker and an oxygen tank. Tyler seemed to be in good spirits today though.

Then there was Justin, who was now in the body of a baby. It took a few days for anyone to even figure out what body Justin had swapped into. And of course Justin came with Kyle, who had swapped into the body of Justin’s mom. And when Kyle needed to feed Justin, the only one who made an sort of comment was (of course) Jerome. Colin sort of wish Jerome had swapped with someone, just to get a taste of what he seemed to be enjoying dishing out. What he didn’t know was that Jerome had, in fact, swapped, but the person inside Jerome’s body was doing a great job pretending he hadn’t...

Sideline (Part 3)

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The conversation was soon interrupted by Jerome, one of Colin’s teammates who hadn’t been Shifted, “Naw, man, get back on the field.”

“I really don’t think I can play ball like this,” Colin stammered.

“Who said anything about playing ball? Go down to the locker rooms, grab some pom poms and one of those short skirts, come on out here, and shake that ass.”

Colin tried to smile, but it was forced. He felt quite uncomfortable. He finally muttered out an answer, “I have no clue how to do any of the choreography.”

“Ain’t nobody care about the choreography, Man. People who come to the game just want to see pretty girls dance on the sidelines. And whether you want to admit it or not, that’s what you are now. You ain’t a ball player no more, so don’t even try to front...”

Sideline (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

“Hey, Colin, heads up!”

Colin turned to the familiar voice, but soon found a buzzing football in his face. He caught it with a smile as he saw his old teammate, Patrick. Of course, inside Patrick’s body was another one of his teammates, Martin.

“Nice catch, Bud,” Martin said.

“I still got my skills. Plus, this body is still pretty athletic. She was a cheerleader, you know?”

“With reflexes like that, you could probably still play this week, Man.”

Colin laughed, “Yeah, right. This body is about 100 pounds when wet. I’d get crushed out there.”

“You seen some of the other guys who have opted in this week? It’s going to be a crazy one.”

“I’ll pass. I’d prefer not to spend the next few weeks in intensive care.’