Garbage Day

With garbage pickup suspended for a week after the Great Shift, trash was piling up in people’s homes. When it finally resumed, it was impossible to not notice how much longer pickup was taking.

In part, this was due to the pause, more time between pickups simply meant there was more trash to be collected. Many of the garbagemen were still unaccounted for. Then there were people like Jeff. Whereas his old body was used to just grabbing several bags at a time and throwing them into the back of the truck, his post-Shift female body wasn’t nearly as strong.

He was sure he’d bulk up his new feminine arms in no time, but for now he was limited to a single bag at a time.

The delays would continue.

Never Fire a Shot into the Air

When I was young, my dad told me would take me hunting. He warned me never to fire a shot into the air, because you never knew where it was going to land. He even shared a story about a guy who knew who fired his rifle in celebration after bagging a deer only to have the bullet come down at hit him in the head as he left the forest. I don’t know if that story was true, but I probably should’ve taken his advice to heart.

When my friend and I got our hands on this weird body swapping ray, it started out as fun. You’d zap one person with it, zap another, and then the two people would swap bodies. We messed with people for hours.

We were laughing at the whole thing, and then my so-called friend decided to zap me. I wrestled it from his hands, knowing that I would swap with whoever was zapped next. I probably should’ve smashed the thing, or just swapped with him. Instead, I thought it would just be harmless to just shoot it in the air.

I should’ve listened to my dad.

It took about an hour for the shot to come back down to Earth. But I knew immediately when it did. I wasn’t with my friend anymore. I wasn’t in the same city anymore. I wasn’t even a guy anymore. Just as my dad had warned me when hunting, the shot of the body swap ray had come back down to Earth. I’m sure my friend would be amused by my current body. Heck, he was probably amused while talking to her now that she was in my body. She was probably freaking out with what I imagine were lots of “like”s and “gawd”s. But now I needed to figure out how to get back there and sort this whole mess out.

The Prom Queen

“Let me go! They’re about to announce prom queen! They’ll give it to someone else if I’m not there!” Nancy screamed. Despite being in a rather imposing contraption, she was less concerned about her safety and more concerned about claiming her crown.

She was actually surprised no one could hear her screaming for help. She could still hear the bass of the music through the walls. She had been taken from just outside where she had been sneaking a cigarette where no one could see. But who took her? Karen? That bitch would do anything to take the crown from her.

She was quite surprised to see a nerdy guy emerge from the shadows. He had a strange helmet on his head and placed a matching one on hers.

Nancy was confused, “Who are you? Why are you doing this?”

“You never noticed me,” The nerdy guy sighed, “No one ever did. Well, that ends today. I’m going to be prom queen.”

Nancy suddenly stopped screaming and began to laugh. “You? You’re not exactly prom queen material. You’ve even got the gender wrong.”

“No, but I will be. Once I used my machine here to steal your body.”

“Steal my -- ? What?” Nancy started screaming for help again. But as the machine was activated, she could hear the sound of her voice changing from her sweet, high pitched tone to an obnoxious, nasally snort. What had he done to her!?

In the Pouring Rain

“And just why did you bring us up to the roof in the pouring rain?” Tricia asked her boss Mike.

“Because we came up here the other day and there was that lightning strike that swapped our bodies, right?” Mike asked. “I figured there’s a pretty good chance of another lightning strike in weather like this. It’s been two days, Tricia! I want my body back!”

You don’t think I want mine back, too? It’s nice to be the boss, but I miss being young! I miss having a social life! I hated going back to the suburbs at night!”

“Then what are you complaining about!?”

“Because it may be raining, but there’s no lightning today! We’re just getting soaking wet!”

Searching

Late summer in 1947. Henry and Tanya had spent the last two months together on an expedition. The two archaeologists were in search of something, and it seemed they had finally found it.

Henry reached out and put his hand on the artifact, and it began to glow. Tanya maintained a safe distance.

“This is what we’ve been looking for,” Henry told her, “If we both touch this at the same time, it should swap our bodies. We can get back to normal!”

“What if I don’t want to go back?” Tanya asked.

“How could you not want to return to your own body?”

“Not everyone is as progressive as you. The fact that you allowed me in your class at college; the fact that you picked me as you teaching assistant; the fact that you hired me at the university after I graduated. This world is tough out there for a woman like me, and no one except for you will ever give me a chance. Being stuck as an old white man doesn’t seem that bad in comparison.”

Henry knew exactly what she was talking about. He had lived the past two months as Tanya. He had experienced the racism and discrimination first hand. He had given her every opportunity because she was the brightest student he ever had, and he wasn’t going to let other people’s racism get in the way of that; he had done his best to shield her from it, but he was one man. He knew exactly why she didn’t want to go back though. He laughed, “Okay. Fine. I understand. But we’re still bringing the artifact back in case you change your mind. Oh, and, for the record, I’m not that old.”