Neverending Search

“It has to be here somewhere,” Henry mumbled under his breath, “I checked just about every bag she owned yesterday, but I found this one in the back of her closet today. Maybe she stashed it in here.”

Henry was looking for the famed Medallion of Zulu. His wife had tricked tricked him into using it with her to swap their bodies. She refused to switch back with him and even hid the medallion until she was ready to switch back. That was last week, and now Henry was growing quite impatient. It didn’t help that she insisted on him wearing short dresses and tall leather boots while in her body. But she didn’t want him to be comfortable. She wanted him to feel every discomfort of being a woman. Meanwhile, he kept searching for the medallion any time she was out of the house. He turned it upside-down, but always managed to get things back in order before she got home.

While he was convinced she would eventually want to swap back, and that she hid it some place for that occasion, the truth was much different. She had no interest in ever swapping back. She didn’t hide the medallion at all; she simply threw it away.

Emotions

In so many ways, the experience of spending a week on Exchange Island was a total rush for Louis. In other ways, it was continually frustrating. On the one hand, he totally loved the idea of being a woman for a week. It was a such a new, thrilling experience that he couldn’t help but smile if he thought about it for even more than an instant. On the other hand, wearing things like bikinis and short skirts often made him feel so uncomfortable and exposed. It often felt like such a mix of complicated emotions. He’s try to pull up his bikini bottoms to cover up, but there wasn’t much to pull, and they were unable to cover much. While frustrating, at the same time, the experience reminded him of the female body he was currently inhabiting. Was he frustrated? Was he happy? Could it be possible that he was both?

I've Got This

“You can trust me, you know?” Javier insisted, “I’m a professional. You hired me to help you lose fifteen pounds, so I come over here for a few hours every few days, swap my head onto your body, do the work, and you lose the weight. You can sit in the other room, watch TV, do whatever. That’s the point. I do the work for you.”

“I know, I know,” Heather muttered, “But this is our first session. I’m worried you might strain a muscle in the wrong way. My body is quite sensitive.”

“Everyone’s is. I get it. But I’m telling you that I know what I’m doing. You’re my third new client this week. I start off slow in order to figure these things out. Trust me, you don’t need to run me through every little thing. Now go and relax. I’ve got this...”

No One Believes in Magic Anymore (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Calvin knew he needed to hurry, but he took another minute to look at his reflection. He was feeling such a mix of emotions right now. For one thing, he was happy to have found actual magic in the world -- seeing Miranda’s image looking back at him was proof of that. Of course, he did feel a little silly for imagining Miranda in these revealing clothes. He could’ve pictured her wearing jeans and a t-shirt or pajamas or whatever. Instead he picked...this. He felt confused that the cloak had just disappeared. And he felt panicked that the store would close soon, and he’d be stuck like this for the night. He didn’t wait another minute as he rushed out the door.

He drove downtown by where he swore the shop was, yet instead there only seemed to be a storefront that read “For Rent.” It looked like the owner had been trying to rent it out for years. He thought he might have the wrong street, as he headed down a few turns to no avail.

He took deep breaths. It had taken him years of studying magic to find anything magical. But if he had found magical items once, he could find them again. He was just fretting that he’d have to search while looking like this. He’d have to learn how to be a woman; he’d have to buy an entirely new wardrobe...maybe he should search for that store just a little bit longer. It has to be around here somewhere, right? Unless...it disappeared...like...magic...

No One Believes in Magic Anymore

Calvin studied magic for years, convinced it was more than just parlor tricks. No, he would search for real magic. He tried casting spells or enchanting items to no avail. Just as he was about to give up, he stumbled across an old shop downtown. He hadn’t remembered seeing it before, but something about it felt...different. Inside, he saw all sorts of items he had only read about: orbs that could grant wishes, potions that could allow someone to fly, and so on. He grabbed as much as he could and brought it to the counter before handing the clerk his credit card.

“Sorry, cash only,” The clerk shrugged.

Calvin dug through his pockets and dropped a $20 in front of the register, “What can I get with this?”

The clerk looked through the items Calvin brought up, “This cloak, I guess.”

Calvin grinned. He recognized it from his readings. It was a transformation cloak. You simply covered yourself with it, concentrated on a person, and you would be transformed into them. It wouldn’t have been his first choice, but he figured buying some magic would be better than nothing.

He planned to just run to the ATM to get out as much cash as he could and then return to the store. However, every machine in the area seemed to be down. He had some cash at home. It’d take a little while to get there, but he could rush back and return to the store before closing.

He got back home and grabbed a jar from under his bed. He was about to rush back out when he paused. He had a perfectly good magical cloak here; it would be a shame not to use it right away. He stood in front of a mirror, covered himself with the cloak, and thought about his friend Miranda. When he first started studying magic, she laughed at him so hard. It seemed like an appropriate choice for his first transformation. Sure enough, as he removed the cloak from his head and let it drape down his arms, the reflection staring back at him was now Miranda’s. Calvin wanted to examine more in detail, but he knew he didn’t have the time; he needed to get back to the store. He began to start putting the cloak back over his head in order to transform back, but it was disappearing in his fingers. He was shocked. He had never read anywhere that the transformation cloak was for one use only. Now he needed to get back to that store even quicker!

Got the Job

After graduating college, Joshua headed straight to the hipster mecca of Brooklyn. After finding an apartment, his next task was to find a job. It didn’t take him long to score an interview by applying for a few things online. He knew he was a little unprepared coming into the office. He had forgotten the name of the company, which meant he couldn’t research them in advance. He got a little more confident when he arrived to meet with the hiring manager. Two other people were there for the interview: A Jewish woman from Jersey wearing an outlandish top with stripes and leopard print and a black man from the Bronx wearing a baseball cap and a gold chain around his neck. With his large hipster glasses and brand new suit, Joshua felt that he was at least a little more appropriately dressed than his competition. They were all waiting for a while, then the door to the hiring manager’s office opened. A bright light shone out; Joshua was knocked to the floor. When the light cleared, Joshua first noticed that he was alone. Then he tried to pick himself up off the floor and noticed heels on his feet. He was wearing the top the Jewish woman had been wearing and he also wore the hat and chains the black man had. He was certainly a woman now and his skin was now brown. He realized he had been merged somehow with the two other people in the room. He still thought of himself as Joshua, but he realized that he had no way to really know how much of his thoughts were really his own. Then the hiring manager finally came out of her office with a smile, “Congratulations; you got the job. Now, let me explain...”

Sent Home (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Two years later; the company was still no closer to figuring out what had caused all their employees to switch bodies, nor were they any closer to figuring out how swap everyone back. Earl was quite used to being in Lee’s body by this point, and he had actually adapted quicker to the change than his wife Julia had.

For the first few month’s, she just had a feeling of mistrust, thinking he wasn’t actually who he said he was. Then she started to miss his broad shoulders and their regular intimacy. But after she got over what she was missing, she started to see what she was gaining.

She wondered if it was the new hormones running through him, but she couldn’t help but notice that he was more apt to express his emotion; he was also often warmer when speaking to their kids on the phone (who were away at college), regularly telling them he loved them and her. She realized they could also share things like shoes and bags.

But then the jealousy started. She knew he husband’s body was younger, skinnier, and prettier than he own. She couldn’t fully explain the jealousy, as they weren’t competing over anything, but she could tell it was there. Sure, she was mostly happy, but it was a feeling that was hard to shake.

Sent Home

When Julia arrived home to find a nervous Asian woman pacing in her living room, she demanded answers. The woman quietly responded by pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and taking a deep breath until finally she spoke with a stammer.

“It’s because...I’m your husband.”

Julia’s jaw dropped.

The woman continued, “There was an accident...at work. But all of us...we all are...we’re all someone different now. I swapped into this woman’s body...her name is Lee. She’s entry level in the accounting department. Chuck, my supervisor, he’s in my body. Everyone is all mixed up. They don’t even know what caused it. But they sent us all home early. We didn’t even know what home to go to. Should I have gone to Lee’s home or here, for instance? It’s all just really weird...and awkward.”

Julia stood speechless. She couldn’t believe the woman in front of her was actually her husband. Instead of being the tall, middle aged man with broad shoulders that she married, he was now a petite Asian woman. It didn’t even seem possible, but it was way to outrageous for this woman to make up. So she had to actually be him...right?

The Perfect Crime

Victor was pretty sure he had everything planned perfectly. Step one was robbing the bank. Step two was stashing a good amount of the cash in a hiding place before the cops were onto him. Then he made his getaway. He knew he’d be caught; it was all part of the plan. He ran down a street with the cops in hot pursuit. He was a little nervous that it was all going to fall apart when he didn’t see a single person on the street. Then he saw a distant figure on a balcony. She would do.

He clutched the small trinket in his hand, and just as he knew it was working, he let it go onto the street below. Suddenly, he wasn’t running anymore. Instead, he was looking down at the street from the balcony, hearing the sirens and the shouts. He knew his former body was now being arrested. Then he looked down at his new body. The magic trinket sure had done the trick; he actually swapped into someone else’s body.

Granted, this body wouldn’t have been his first choice, but it really didn’t matter. After the cops arrested his former self, he’d go down and collect it -- after all, it looked like little more than a piece of trash on the street. Then he’d collect the money that he stashed. He’d deposit just a little bit in an offshore account, stash the rest in a new location, then use the trinket to swap again. With each new body, he’d deposit just a little bit more. No one transaction from any person would ever be enough to arouse suspicion. When it was all gone, he’d swap once more, then take a plane to an exotic locale where he could live off that money quite comfortably for the rest of his life...

Unable

“Look,” Abe sighed as he explained to his friend Martin, “I know I agreed to let you use that weird device to transform me into a copy of your wife while she’s away, so you’d have a date for that science convention thing, but it’s been three days now. When is she coming back, so I can transform back to myself? A guy can only take so much of high heels and short skirts, you know?”

Martin rolled his eyes back into his head, “Actually, she’s not coming back. I have become so engrossed with creating my device that I took her for granted. She said she was going to leave me...and...well...she did. Please stay like this just a little bit longer!”

“That’s pretty messed up, dude.” Abe wanted to demand to be returned to normal immediately, but he saw the pain in his friend’s eyes, “But I guess I can stay like this just a little bit longer.”

Martin didn’t quite have the heart to tell Abe that he hadn’t perfected his device well enough. He could use it to transform it into someone else, but getting that person back to normal? Well, he hadn’t quite been able to figure that out. And, truth be told, he had actually experimented on his wife, turning her into a copy of his best friend, Abe. She hadn’t been too happy when he was unable to change her back.

The Future Depends on It

It all happened with a quick flash. Then suddenly, Rick was pushed against the wall. His jaw dropped when he saw who was confronting him.

“Why do you have my face?” He asked. Realizing his voice was now higher pitched, the true weirdness of his situation set in, “Why am I a woman? How did you get into my apartment? Why did you do this?”

“Look,” His own body was now explaining to him, “I’m a police officer from the future. I needed to come back in time and inhabit your body for a while. I don’t have much time to explain. You just need to stay right here in my body. Don’t go anywhere. Just stay here, where it’s safe. You were going to be murdered today, but the future depends on that not happening. So I’m came back in time and swapped with you. I’m going to be you for the day, and I’m going to make sure nothing bad happens to your body. You need to trust me. I’ve done this a hundred times. I know what I’m doing.”

It didn’t seem real, but Rick just nodded in agreement.

For the Summer...

When he arrived at work in the morning, Ryan couldn’t have possibly imagined what the day would bring. He worked at a pretty boring retail job at a big box store that was typically routine on a day-to-day basis. Today wasn’t one of those days. No one knew how or why it happened, but when everyone inside the store swapped bodies, the staff was shocked.

Ryan found himself swapped into Becky’s body. She was a college student who took a job on a register to earn some extra cash over the summer. She seemed mostly calm as she explained to him that she had plans to go out after work, and that she had some clothes stashed in her locker in the back room if Ryan wanted to change out of her work uniform.

Ryan was a little surprised by the tight gold dress in Becky’s locker. It was a little more outgoing than what he expected of her. Also in her locker was Becky’s phone, which was blowing up from her friends texting asking where she was. It appears they weren’t going to take “no” for an answer in regards to their plans to go out tonight.

Progressive

Trent had always considered himself pretty progressive. He had tried to support causes that fought misogyny and racism. But it was the Great Shift that truly caused him to take a look inside of himself.

He had been born a white man, yet was now inside of the body of an African American woman. He would try to tell other people neither his new race nor gender mattered much, but inside of his own head, it was much different.

When he got dressed in the morning, he felt uncomfortable with his body in ways he couldn’t describe. At first, he tried to dismiss it as just due to the fact that he was adjusting to a new body. As time when on, he couldn’t help but wonder if it continued to be awkward for him because deep down he truly had some prejudice that he never admitted to before...

Dilute

After a very scary twelve hours trapped in each other’s bodies, Bill and Eliza wanted to get rid of the Medallion of Zulu for good. The next day, they waded out into the ocean, broke it against a rock, and dropped it in the water. When they returned to shore, the couple were shocked. Even without touching the medallion at the same time, they had somehow swapped from the waist down.

“I have a theory,” Bill suggested, “I think when we broke the medallion, we released the magic. Then when we dropped it in the ocean, the water somehow absorbed the magic, resulting in our swap.”

“Well, that’s all well and good,” Eliza replied, “But is it going to affect other people? And will we be able to come back later to switch back?”

“As far as everyone else, we can only hope no one goes out that far. And for us? I suppose we just have to hope that the water doesn’t dilute the magic before the time we are able to swap back.”

Cat

“You’re probably actually happy about this, aren’t you?” Dan scowled as he asked the cat next to him, “You always talked about how you thought the life of a cat was pretty great. Now thanks to your crazy father and his inventions, you’re stuck in the body of one, Sarah. And I’m stuck in your body -- not that I ever wanted to be. We should be out there looking for the device, but your dad also seems pretty happy to be young again in my body that I’m not sure he even has any interest in finding his own body or the device.”

Sarah knew Dan was talking to her, but she couldn’t really understand him. Now that she was in the body of her own cat, her brain just didn’t have the capacity to understand language any more. But she didn’t exactly care. Her diminished capacities also meant that a life of sleep, food, and lounging around seemed pretty good.

Guess We Are

Ronald had walked about a mile down the desolate dirt road wearing uncomfortably tight jeans and even more uncomfortable high heels before he finally came upon a shack. A woman sat in front, holding a beer and looking rather annoyed.

“You gunna complain ‘bout this damned Great Shift thang too?” She asked before Ronald could say a word.

“Great Shift?” Ronald asked, hearing his high pitched voice for the first time.

“Yep. Yer the third person walking by askin’ ‘bout it. Guess we’ve all just swapped bodies. Heck, this ain’t my body either. I just found myself in this cabin in this chick’s body. Ain’t no TV or phone inside, but there was a fridge. This is the last beer though, so don’t expect me to do no sharin’. But yer welcome to sit a spell. I’m guessin’ you ain’t no real chick either.”

“Well, I am now,” Ronald sighed, “I guess we both are.”

“Yep, guess we are.” The woman said as she took a big gulp of beer.

Assistant

Jason’s eyes went wide when he saw his own face looking at him. It was like staring in a mirror, except the reflection wasn’t matching his own moves. It was shocking, but he could only figure out one logical conclusion: He must not be inside his own body anymore. Of course, if he wasn’t in his own body, he must be in someone else’s. There had only been one other person in the office with him, his assistant Rose. His eyes grew even larger with even more shock as he lifted his hand to see perfectly manicured nails at the tips of his fingers and a pink sleeve covering his arms. He couldn’t believe it. He was in Rose’s body, and she must be in his. All he could think now was hoping that the body swapping wouldn’t send a power trip to her head...

Better (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

It had been another successful day at the gym. Jeff decided to just put on his winter coat, and not even change out of his workout clothes. He actually wished he didn’t even need the coat. He wasn’t satisfied to simply show off his new body at the gym; he wanted to do it on the street as well. But now he guessed that he needed to wait for warmer weather to be able to do that. Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about how great his new was, and how amazing he had made it over the past two years.

Better

It hadn’t been easy. When the Great Shift struck approximately two years ago, Jeff had found himself stuck in the body of a woman. She had a pretty face, but was a little overweight. Jeff decided to hit the gym every day. It took quite some time, but he was finally pleased with the results. He turned more than a few heads on the streets, but he was particularly proud of his new gym outfit. The shirt was cut to expose his belly and abs; the leggings were skin tight. He couldn’t believe how good he felt about himself. Not only did he feel better than he did since ending up in this body, but better than he ever did in his old body as well.

Enjoy!

Aaron couldn’t believe he was going to be stuck in Kylie’s body for the next 48 hours. She had given him a pretty good run down of what he needed to know about being a woman and left him with a box filled with clothes and personal items. He lifted one of the items out of the box with a look of shock.

“What do you expect me to do with THIS?” He gulped.

“You’re going to be a woman for the next 48 hours. I certainly expect you to explore that.” Kylie replied.

“So this goes...”

“Exactly where you think it does. Enjoy!”

Presentation

Jack was feeling a mix of worry and pride. He was going to present his latest invention to a group of colleagues today. The success was clear. He had intended to build a device that could swap two people’s brains. He had done just that. The worry came because he couldn’t seem to reverse two people once swapped. He hoped his colleagues could help.

He took a deep breath as he opened the door to the back seat of his car to let his wife and son out to join him for the presentation. His wife bounced out first with a youthful energy and a scowl. He son followed with a very devious smile on his face. Jack regretted using his family as his first test subjects. His wife was still furious with him, and he was worried about his son. He could only hope that he would get some help after the presentation.

Neighbors (Part 4)

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.
Click here for Part 3.

Now that she was in Susan’s body, Maryanne decided to take the most logical course of action she could think of; she booked a plane ticket and got as far from Kevin and Susan as possible. There was no way she was going to go back to her own body once that device recharged. She enjoyed being in Susan’s body so much; no one was going to take it from her. She settled down in a tropical paradise, spending the first week at a resort, but knew she’d soon have to get a job. She also knew this meant Kevin would be stuck in her body and Susan would be stuck in Kevin’s. She guessed they could swap with each other, but she didn’t imagine Susan would want her body. That meant Kevin would be the one stuck with it. She tried to push such thoughts to the back of her mind as she took a sip of her drink and enjoyed herself.

Neighbors (Part 3)

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.

Kevin never exactly enjoyed swapping bodies with Susan. He actually would hate his time as a woman. But while he was in her body, she didn’t force him to help clean up around the house or fix anything on his long to-do list. Now that he was swapped with Maryanne instead, she was no longer exempting him. It was the worst of both worlds. He was stuck having to fix shelves and cabinets while also being stuck in the body of a woman. Worse still was that Maryanne’s body was a little out of shape. He got winded easily; he had trouble lifting things. He couldn’t wait for the device to recharge and get back to his own body.

On the other hand, Maryanne was quite enjoying her time in Susan’s body...

Neighbors (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Maryanne was a little surprised to find herself suddenly face-to-face with Kevin’s body. Before she could say a word, his body spoke, “Why didn’t it work.”

Maryanne struggled for a response before a clamoring at the window caught her attention. She was more than shocked to see her own body struggling to climb through the window.

“I think I can explain,” She heard her own body say, “Susan and I have this odd body swapping device that we use from time to time. You must have been walking by and ended up being close enough that you and I swapped with each other instead of her and I. The bad news, I’m afraid, is that it does take some time to recharge between each use, so we’re all going to be stuck like this for a while.”

Maryanne looked down. It was true; she now had Susan’s body, which was younger, thinner, and more beautiful than her own. She shrugged, “It doesn’t seem like bad news to me.”

She saw Kevin’s body give her a scowl, which she knew now was actually Susan. Susan spoke, “We are switching back the second this thing is recharged, so don’t get any ideas.” Then Susan turned to the window, “And, Honey, you have some chores you need to take care of...”

Neighbors

Eavesdropping on her neighbors was one of Maryanne’s bad habits, but she just couldn’t help herself. The young couple, Kevin and Susan, was also talking about some thing or another that was so interesting, and their houses were so close that it was impossible for her not to stroll into the yard to listen in.

Today, the conversation wasn’t just interesting; it was downright weird. They weren’t quite arguing, but they weren’t quite happy. They were talking about body swapping and began to complain about being each other. Maryanne couldn’t believe it. There was no way it was possible! Finally, she heard Susan (who she guessed was actually Kevin) whine about having to always sit down to pee and demand that they swap back. Kevin (who she guessed was actually Susan) finally gave in, agreed, and pressed a button on a remote.

The next thing Maryanne knew, she saw a flash of light, and suddenly she was no longer outside of her neighbor’s house. She was in it...

Next Week

When Jim walked into the room, Emily’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe it. She barely had words but managed to speak.

“My body,” She said, “What did you do to it?”

“I always suspected there was a hottie behind your frumpy exterior,” James explained, “So I tweezed your eyebrows, got hair extensions, bought this dress...”

“...And got breast implants?”

“Yeah, they look pretty sweet, right?”

Emily started to cry. “We are supposed to switch back to our own bodies next week! I don’t WANT breast implants!”

“Well, we don’t have to swap back. You can always just let me keep this body.”

Emily began to cry harder.

Lost

“Come on!” Leslie whined, “How many times are you going to make me apologize?”

“How many times?” Ty asked, “You are never going to be done apologizing to me. You lost the damned medallion, the only thing that would ever be able to swap us back to our own bodies. Because of that, I am going to be stuck as a woman, as you, for the rest of my life.”

“But don’t you love me? What’s wrong with being me?”

“It seemed like a fun idea when you suggested it for a few hours, but now we’re talking about forever? That’s a whole different ball game. I’m not exactly thrilled about wearing bras and panties for the rest of my life, not to mention dealing with certain things once a month...”

See

Ralph had been coming to Exchange Island for well over forty years now, but nothing like this had ever happened before. Sure, he had been swapped with women before; that was nothing new. But it was very strange that he still needed his glasses to see properly. After landing on the resort, he found his vision blurry. He quickly found the woman he swapped with and asked if she had any vision problems of her own. She frowned, saying she did not, and gave Ralph his glasses. Sure enough, with his own glasses on, he could see quite clearly. Though it was a bit of a pain, since they didn’t quite fit his borrowed face, so he kept having to push them back on.

Still, he wondered why he needed them at all. He had never needed to use his own glasses while in someone else’s body on Exchange Island before. Those sorts of physical traits generally stayed with a person’s body, not swap with their minds. He wondered if something had gone wrong this time...if for some reason the swap wasn’t quite complete. And, worse still, if there would be any problems swapping back as a result. He certainly wouldn’t mind staying in this body, but the woman he swapped with probably wouldn’t want to remain a 60 year old man any longer than she had to...

Fear (Part 3)

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.

By the end of the day, Arthur was feeling pretty confident in his math skills -- not only with his ability to understand them, but with his ability to teach them as well. He was also starting to feel quite comfortable in Miss Pultz’s body. In fact, he was beginning to abandon the idea of even attempting to get back to his own body and just keep her body as his own. Her life didn’t seem so bad. She had a good job, and she was quite attractive. He was pretty sure he would have no trouble living her life, and he had to admit that it was actually quite appealing.

Fear (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

After the class finished shuffling in, Arthur was completely unaware of where to start. He hummed and hawed for a few minutes as he shuffled awkwardly in the uncomfortable heels on his feet. He took off his glasses and bit on the end.

“Uhhh...” He finally spoke up, “Who can tell me where we left off yesterday?”

The class responded with a long silence until a lone student finally raised their hand. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as the student rattled on about yesterday’s lesson. Suddenly, it was like a spark in the back of Arthur’s brain. He realized he actually knew what to do. The rest of the class went rather smoothly.

Then he began to think about it. Maybe Miss Pultz was still somewhere in the back of his brain. Maybe she never made it into his body. It all made sense. If she was in here helping push out math facts, maybe she’d also be able to help him reverse her invention to allow him to get back into his own body!