The Guts

The cold water rushed down over Ben. He screamed, but it wasn’t due to the chill of the water; it was due his transformation into a woman. Each summer he bought a day pass at Bikini Beach to enjoy the temporary experience of being a woman. While he enjoyed actually being a woman, the actual transformation of becoming one was often quite painful. His body literally had to rearrange itself, and Ben had to feel every second. In the end, it was worth it. He always loved his time at Bikini Beach. In fact, each time he considered buying a lifetime pass, but so far he didn’t have the guts...

Marina

Eddie checked his watch. There was only a few hours left before the medallion would work again and allow he and Caroline to swap back to normal. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure that wasn’t going to happen. A last minute flight was too expensive; renting a car was too traceable. So Eddie headed to the marina. He’d take a boat to an exotic island. It’d be impossible for Caroline to find him. If she couldn’t find him, she wouldn’t be able to swap back with him. If she didn’t swap back with him, he’d get to keep her body for good. Plus, on an island, he’d get to lounge around in her body while wearing a bikini. That seemed like fun. He turned back one last time. Was he sure he wanted to keep Caroline’s body for good. He turned back to the boats. Yes, yes he was.

Keeping Up Appearances

Gene had arrived at college with some pretty lofty ideals. He wore the label of social justice warrior proudly. He was anti-fur, vegetarian, anti-gun, but still prided himself on open-mindedness. Early into his second semester, he was given an opportunity to sign up for an experiment, to switch bodies with another student at school. He jumped at the chance to better understand someone else’s struggles, especially when he found out the other person would be a woman. What better way to understand the injustices involved in gender?

However, swapping with Gwen was nothing like she expected. She was a member of the campus’s young Republicans. She wore fur coats and leather pants. She kept a gun in her purse. Gene could cope with spending some time in a woman’s body, but spending time in the body of a conservative made him a bit more uncomfortable. According to the agreement, he was going to have to keep up appearances. He’d have to attend her Young Republicans meetings; he’d have to keep wearing fur and leather; he’d also have to keep eating meat. It was going to be a tougher week than he ever expected.

Consignment

The small consignment shop on the corner had sold the strangest trinkets for as long as Nicholas could remember. It was only two years ago that he bought a necklace that looked like a piece of junk for fifty cents. He had no idea at the time how much that little necklace would change his life...literally. He couldn’t explain how or why, but that little necklace could swap two people’s bodies. And with it, he ended up swapping bodies with Katie. She was always such a free spirit, wearing colorful clothes or riding around on roller skates. He tried to keep that spirit alive even after they lost the necklace, and he was stuck in Katie’s body for good. He was never quite as bubbly, but he tried. As he rolled passed again today, he noticed something in the window, something very familiar. It was the necklace. It had returned! He could buy it and finally swap back with Katie...if he wanted to. But did he?

Wanted To or Not (Part 6)

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Click here for Part 4.
Click here for Part 5.

Eventually, John spied the phone on the bar just as the bartender snatched it up and placed it in the lost and found. John was a little disgusted with himself after he flirted with the guy in order to get it back, but he soon found himself in the woman’s home.

It was a lot to adjust to over the days that followed. He not only had a new body, but he also had a new job, new clothes, and a new life. On most days, he felt like doing little more than sitting on the couch and watching TV. Even that proved odd as sitting still made him very aware of his new body. He knew he had no choice; he would just have to adjust.

Wanted To or Not (Part 5)

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Click here for Part 3.
Click here for Part 4.

John held his head; it was spinning. He knew he had a few too many, and he was acting foolishly. He just wanted to go home, but he he had no idea where home was for this body. But, wait, there was an ID in her phone. Her address must be on there. He then tried searching his pockets but quickly learned this outfit didn’t have any. That must mean he left his phone somewhere around here. Where did he put it? On a table? At the bar? If things weren’t bad before, they were certainly worse now. That phone and the things in were the only clues he had about who he was now.

Wanted To or Not (Part 4)

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

John was feeling pretty good after a few drinks. In fact, he started to smile and let the music overtake him; he began to dance. Of course, despite his sensual female body, he was still dancing like a nerdy white guy. Of course, this didn’t matter to many of the guys in the club, particularly the ones who had bought him drinks. They just saw a gorgeous woman dancing and wanted to get closer. John was more than weirded out when they started to rub up against it, but he was drunk enough that he thought it actually felt pretty good. He was also too drunk to effectively push them away. He just rolled with it; that is until one of them stuck their tongue down his throat.

Wanted To or Not (Part 3)

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

John had hoped the bar would have a chill, relaxed atmosphere. Instead, it was a bit more like a club with pounding bass beats and lots of dancing. Still, a drink is a drink, and John could really use one right about now. It was also not lost on him that there were plenty of guys in this place checking him out. It was a feeling he wasn’t used to, but it was also something he quickly took advantage of to get a free drink. However, that free drink usually came with a price. The guy seemed to expect a conversation. Luckily for John, he didn’t really know much about himself and this body, which meant he could get away without sharing much while still seeming honest. Then after that was over, someone else bought him another drink...

Wanted To or Not (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

As the black cab drove away, John looked down. He sighed. Not only did he accidentally swap bodies with someone, that person just happened to be a woman. He had read the journals carefully. No one had ever found the magic taxi again once they used it, which meant he was likely stuck like this for the rest of his life. He hadn’t paid much attention to this woman when she was in the back of the cab. He had no idea who she was, where she was going, or anything about her. She had her cell phone with her, which had a case with a pocket that had a few credit cards, some cash, and an ID inside. He could probably make it through all this, but first he needed a drink. Luckily, there appeared to be a bar right on the corner.

Wanted To or Not (Part 1)

John had been riding home in a black cab. He couldn’t help but notice that the driver kept looking back at him in a suspicious manner. John didn’t think much of it until they arrived at his house. The man gave John one of the evilest smiles he had ever seen before saying, “Have a nice day.” The next thing John realized was that he was now the one behind the wheel with his own body standing at the window and forking over a $50 tip to him. John took it without question and kept driving.

John instinctively drove to the cabbie’s apartment. He laid down on the dirty bed and began to read the various notes and journals kept inside. He never wanted to get out of bed; he just wanted to lay there and cry about his lost life. But something always pushed him to drive.

He tried to avoid taking much notice of passengers, and he certainly avoided the magic words of “Have a nice day.” Yet still, after about two weeks, the oddest thing happened. He was suddenly the one outside of the cab, closing the door before handing $50 to the person now inside the body of the driver. He was in shock. He couldn’t believe he had actually said the words and stolen someone else’s body. How could he do this to someone else? He didn’t even remember doing it; it was like the taxi made him do it whether he wanted to or not.

Disaster

It felt something like a mix between an earthquake and a lightning storm. After whatever happened, Erik tried to stand but found it quite difficult. He discovered the heels on his feet and, by extension, the fact that he was now in a new body. The first thing he did was try to take them off, but the straps were just too frustrating. Instead, he walked down the hall very carefully, holding onto the walls or furniture to stop himself from falling. He didn’t recognize where he was; not only was he in an unknown body, he was also in an unknown place. Eventually, he found a television that he flipped on. The newscasters looked rattled. They weren’t dressed right and they seemed uncomfortable. That’s when he realized they too must have been swapped. He turned up the volume as they began to describe what was presently known about the event that they were calling “The Great Shift.”

Cry Me a River

Rebecca had been constantly nagging Marcus since he entered the room and sat down. He tried to ignore her at first, but he had to lash out eventually.

“Stop bugging me about the way I choose to dress,” He snapped at her, “I know it’s hard for you to cope with, but this is my body now. That means I get to pick what I wear.”

“But that body is really mine and you know it!” Rebecca whined, “That dress is way too short, and you’re just making me look like a slutty school girl.”

“Boo hoo. Cry me a river,” Marcus snapped back while he feigned crying, “If you don’t stop complaining, I’m going to go out and get a face tattoo.”

Rebecca held her tongue. She wanted to say something, but she knew Marcus was serious. It would be something he would do. She just hoped that they were able to swap bodies back soon; she couldn’t take much more of this.

Grounded

Jonathan sat in the airport. All flights in the air had been forced to land, and planes were grounded until further notice. It made sense after what had happened, a massive worldwide body swapping event that people were dubbing “The Great Shift.” Jonathan had been in the air at the time. He guessed he should be thankful that his plane landed safely instead of crashing like so many others did. Still, the emergency landing meant that he was not only in a strange body but in a place far from home. As he waited, he looked as his reflection on a shiny wall. He still couldn’t believe that he swapped bodies with one of the flight attendants. He knew he couldn’t do anything about being swapped into a different body, but he sure hoped the flights would be back in the air soon. Though he knew that even if they resumed right this instant, the delays would be long, and there would be no guarantee that he’d get back on a plane right away. Maybe he should think about trying to rent a car or take a bus, but he had heard the roads were a mess right now as well. Honestly, if he could just change out of these heels and this skirt he’d be pretty happy.

Night Out

Two months had passed since the Great Shift and things were going terribly for George. His new female body made it tough to keep up at his construction job, his wife had left him, and even most of his friends didn’t call as they no longer thought of him as “one of the guys.” When he finally got a call from his old pal Doug, he breathed a sigh of relief. Things were finally getting back to normal.

The pair got together that night and sat at a small table in the back of a bar. When the waitress set a glass of wine in from of George, Doug gave him a look.

“I know, right?” George said, “New body equals new taste buds. Beer tastes terrible to this woman. I can barely believe it myself. But all of my tastes now are just completely different.”

“All of your tastes?” Doug asked, “So since you’re a woman, are you interested in?”

Doug gestured to his crotch.

“Gross, dude!” George exclaimed, “I’m not letting you or anyone else near my...uh...ugh.”

Doug scowled. It was suddenly clear to George why Doug had asked him here. It wasn’t that he wanted to hang out with an old friend; he was interested in something more...

Sibling Jealousy

“What the hell?” Kelly asked her brother, “You’re going out like that? I thought you’d be upset about being a woman. And is that my dress?”

“It’s not like any of my own clothes fit me anymore,” Bed replied, “I only signed up for that experiment at my college for the money. I really needed the money. And I was upset at first when it turned me into a woman. But when I go out now, I’m not made fun of. People actually want to talk to me; they’re nice to me! And it’s not like I can wear my own clothes anymore. Yours fit just fine. I may not have asked for this, but I am going to embrace it!”

Kelly shrugged, but on the inside she was actually a little jealous. She was actually worried that her little brother was now more attractive than she was...

Captive

Andrew had gotten himself in quite a predicament. While on vacation, he was kidnapped by a mad scientist. The crazy old kook had chained up Andrew and several other tourists in his basement. Then two-by-two they were brought upstairs where they were placed into a mind switching machine before returning to the basement. Andrew was brought upstairs with a woman. They both struggled, but it was no use. They were soon returned to back to the basement but now in each other’s bodies. But Andrew had an idea. He told his fellow captive that he had a plan to escape, and he’d come back for them later so they could all figure out a way to switch back to normal. The next time the mad scientist came down, Andrew put on the biggest smile he could.

“Do you think you could let me go?” He asked to a very confused scientist, “Let me explain. I get why you don’t want to let everyone else go. You’re afraid they’ll come back and overpower you. But I’ve actually always dreamed of being a woman. I love this. I should probably be thanking you. Why would I ever come back for my own body? Come on. Let me go.”

Andrew was pretty convincing. In fact, once the scientist let him go, his fellow captives were worried if he was going to come back for them...

I Can Do This

“I can do this. I can do this.” Frank repeated to himself quietly. He honestly couldn’t believe he was doing this. He had just swapped bodies with his sister and was about to go to a job interview in her place. She had complained to him the night before about always screwing up the interview. He joked that he would go in her place if he could. She casually pulled out a strange piece of jewelry and said she was going to take him up on the offer.

It still seemed very unreal to him that an odd looking medallion could swap two people’s bodies. But here he was in his sister’s body, wearing her skirt and heels about to head out. He was sure he could help her land this job. In fact, the only thing that gave him pause was the fact that his sister’s body was so unfamiliar that it was distracting. He had to continually tell himself that he could do this.

Explain

Peter heard a car in the driveway. His wife was home and much earlier than she had told him. He grabbed the laptop and rushed up to their bedroom. The long nails on his hand made it difficult to type in the web address. His heart raced when he saw a 404 not found error before he noticed a mistake caused by his frantic typing. He had to use the forgot password feature as he heard his wife’s footsteps walk up the stairs. She was turning the knob to the door when he finally clicked on the button marked “revert to normal.” Then the computer crashed. He knew he’d have to explain everything. He’d have to explain the website he found that allowed a user to transform their body in any way. Then he’d have to explain why he picked the body he did -- the body of this sexy woman. That is, if she would even let him explain. When she entered the room, he knew she would only see an unexplainable woman in their bed leaning over a laptop. She was probably going to be more than pissed. He was hoping he’d be able to get a word in edgewise.

Winner

Thom only went down to use the invention in his basement on the weekends. He’d pull the lever on the device and for the next 24 hours, he would be somewhere else in someone else’s body. It was random; he could never pick his target. His own body would stay comatose in the basement. Each time he pulled the lever, he knew it was a gamble, but this time, he may have won the jackpot. After swapping bodies on this go-around, the first thing he felt was cold. His arms were bare. Then he was blinded by all the flashing lights of cameras going off. Finally, he looked down. Well, this was interesting. He had never swapped into a woman’s body before. The cameras made him think he must be someone famous, and the jewelry around his neck made him wonder if he was rich. After a few minutes, he started to really enjoy this life -- and he enjoyed being a woman to his surprise. He knew he could stop the swap back to his own body if he just got into his basement and turned off his invention, but he’d have to shake the paparazzi first. It would all be worth it; he was sure. This body was a winner!

Lookin' Good

Louie hated to admit it, but what happened to him was probably some form of twisted justice. Over the years, he had whistled or catcalled tons of women passing by his construction jobs. In fact, he was doing just that when the Great Shift struck. After a quick whistle, he shouted, “Hey, Babe, lookin’ good!” Except he soon realized he wasn’t shouting down at the blonde woman walking by, but up toward his fellow workers and saying it with a voice that was much higher pitched and more feminine than he was used to. He had swapped with the woman he had just been whistling at. For the first few weeks, he felt humiliated. But as time passed, he adapted. He never wore any of her fancy skirt suits -- often opting for the same kinds of overalls he used to wear. Still, even despite the clothes and despite the Shift that swapped all sorts of people around, just about anytime he walked down the street, he’d get a callcat or someone whistling at him. He hated it.

Breaking News

As a travel reporter for the local paper, James had always looked for interesting places to write about. He had read a few rumors on the internet about a place called Exchange Island. There didn’t seem to be any reports on the place and finding out how to book a trip was difficult as well. He brought the idea to his editor, who laughed at him. An island where people swapped bodies on arrival? The editor couldn’t believe James even began to entertain such tall tales.

But James was convinced. He decided to use some of his own vacation time and his own money. Travel reporters weren’t known for breaking stories, but James was in anticipation as he waited for his trip.

And then the day arrived. The plane ride was long, and he was quite disappointed when he landed and nothing immediately happened. As he checked in, he asked about swapping. They told him it was different for everyone. Some did it right upon landing, other took a few hours. And that’s when James finally felt it. Instead of standing behind the desk, he was now on the beach. He felt woozy and light headed, and he was definitely in a different body; he was a woman! Even with the knowledge of what would happen, he was still shocked. He couldn’t wait to report this for his paper, but then he thought about it. What if he wanted to keep this secret to himself?

Simulation

Guthrie had to admit this VR technology was pretty amazing. It not only looked like he was skiing down a mountain, but it felt like it too. There was wind blowing in his face, his fingers felt cold. Some joker had programmed him to have a woman’s body and he actually felt THAT too. It was all so realistic.

On one trip down the mountain, his tripped. The VR glasses broke. He expected this to short circuit the system or pull him out; it did not. He took them off, hoping to exit the simulation. However, this still didn’t work. He looked at the small crack. It didn’t seem that bad, but could it have caused a malfunction? Surely taking them off should’ve implemented some sort of fail-safe, right? Why was he still stuck in this simulation and in this body?

Smart

Chris hated his job. He considered it beneath him. He was way too smart for this, and he was ready to prove it. It was a very devious virus he had been working on for months, built on the cutting-edge tech that the company was building. He sent an email to the CEO, eager to await the results the next morning.

But when the next morning came, things didn’t feel right. The virus was supposed to swap his body with the CEO’s. Instead, he looked in the bathroom mirror and saw a very different face -- the face of a woman. It took him a while to figure out who she was until it finally came to him. She was the CEO’s assistant. Of course, why would the CEO check his own emails? She probably was the one who opened and read it, which meant he swapped with her. As he continued to look at his face in the mirror, he felt much less smart.

Upstairs

“Hey, Man,” Sam said to his friend Gary as he began to walk up the stairs, “I know the Great Shift put me into this body, but let’s just try to forget about it and go upstairs...”

Sam watched as Gary’s eyes glazed over and he began to get ideas, particularly after hearing the phrase “go upstairs.”

Sam rolled his eyes, “...And play video games. Jees, Man, I may be in a woman’s body, but it’s still just me inside of here. There’s no way I’m interested in doing any of the stuff going on in that head of yours right now...”

Zap (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Will must’ve aimed wrong or there was some sort of malfunction, because he soon found himself in the body of his sister. His own body now had the blank look in its eyes. Will was ready to zap them all again, but it seems that while his cat hadn’t learned not to eat the house plants, it did learn how to use the door knob. Soon, the cat in Will’s body ran out the door. Will looked around and didn’t see his body anywhere around the neighborhood. He grabbed a bike from the garage and began to ride around.

Will knew time was running out. When his sister woke up in the body of his cat, she’d be freaking out. He was frustrated. Where could his body be? That’s when he saw the emergency vehicles. There had been an accident. Will hoped his body survived, but what if it hadn’t?

He couldn’t swap his own mind into the cat. It would be such a loss. After all, he was a genius! He could make inventions that could change the world! He couldn’t do that unless he stayed as a human. His sister could stay as a cat for a while longer. What was she? A librarian? Yeah, no big loss.

Zap

No one ever doubted that Will was a genius -- not the least of which was Will himself -- but all those smarts did little to help him figure out a way to stop his cat from eating the house plants. When his sister came for a visit, he thought of a way to teach his cat and test out a new invention at the same time.

He waited until his sister lay down for a nap after she arrived on her red eye flight. Then he aimed the device carefully at her. He zapped Louise and then he zapped his cat. Then he watched as his sister’s body arose. Of course, the first thing she did was start chewing on the house planes. Will knew his invention was successful; he had swapped the bodies of his sister and his cat. He figured with his cat now inside the body of a human, he could explain things about what to do and what not to do. He thought his cat would know have the brain power to understand. Instead, his cat just stared blankly back at him with his sister’s eyes. Will aimed the device at Louise and the cat again, ready to swap them back to normal...

Three Times

“How about this?” Max asked as he showed off the outfit he picked out to Sophia.

“It’s a bit more leather than I usually wear, but it’ll do,” Sophia sighed. She had already sent him back upstairs to change clothes three times now. The other things he picked out had been downright embarrassing, something she would never want to be seen out in public wearing. This one was passable, despite her criticism. Plus, she knew they needed to get going. They needed to find whatever had swapped their bodies if they ever hoped to swap back. She had already wasted over half an hour trying to get Max to change out of her pajamas and into something more appropriate for going outside. She could only hope that they didn’t waste too much time. She wanted to get back to her own body; she certainly couldn’t trust Max to do the most simple things like getting dressed every day...

Yardwork

Jason’s wife had asked him to take some time to work on the yard; instead, he sat down on the hammock and took a nap. As he slept, a blue light passed overhead, covering the neighborhood. When he awoke a few hours later, he was in shock. This body and these clothes, neither were his. He wasn’t sure if he weighed more than 100 pounds while soaking wet, and he was a woman! He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do his yardwork like this. He went inside; his wife was there. She was on the couch playing video games with a baseball cap on. She didn’t ask him about the yard; she didn’t care anymore. He sat down next to her and picked up another controller. He played for a bit, but he realized it didn’t interest him much now. This was all so weird. What was going on here?

Actually

“Chelsea would probably kill me if she found out I was drinking a soda,” Mark quietly mused to himself, “She’d probably also kill me if she found out I’ve been lounging around wearing little more than one of her bikinis. Of course, she wouldn’t actually kill me. I mean, because of the Great Shift, it’d mean she’d actually be harming her own body. It still feels really weird that we switched. I mean, I thought I’d be freaking out about being a woman, but I’ve actually really enjoyed it. Chelsea, on the other hand, has been less enthused about being me...which is also sort of weird. She always would take about how much better men have it, how we’re under less pressure from society and all that. I don’t know. It’s only been about a week, so maybe I’ll eventually find out what she’s talking about, but so far, she seems to be the one feeling the pressure and not me.”

What!?

“What’s going on? What’s that weird tingle?” Peter nervously spoke as he looked down, “These aren’t my legs; these certainly aren’t my boots. Purple? Heels? Oh my God! I recognize these. She walked by me earlier. I’m turning into her. These are her boots, her jean shorts, her sweater. Why is this happening? How is this happening? How am I even supposed to walk in these?”

Peter was breathing heavily. None of this made any sense to him. He thought about walking by this woman earlier. The only reason he had even taken note of her was because of her unique boots. But he had heard a whistle shortly after she walked by. Some jerk had probably made a sexist comment too. Did she think that he was the one that did it? Was this some sort of misplaced revenge? Even still, how was she even capable of this? Magic? It all boggled his mind.

Saturday

Cliff regretted the comment as soon as he made it. He had a long, tiresome day at the office, and he was quite vocal about it. His girlfriend Nancy tried to voice her own complaints about her job. He insisted she couldn’t have it as tough as he did. After all, he worked at a high pressure job on Wall Street; she worked for tips.

He knew Nancy knew magic, but he couldn’t imagine she was even capable of doing something like this. He soon found his head atop her shoulders while hers were on his. She told if that if thought her job was so easy, maybe he should be the one to do it tomorrow.

She made him sleep on the couch. It was uncomfortable, not because of the furniture, but because of the fact he was coping with an unfamiliar body. He found himself getting cold more easily, and the large breasts made rolling from side to side more difficult. He hoped she would reverse the swap before she had to go to work the next day. Instead, she had her outfit ready for him.

He groaned as he slid into the dress -- a frilly German style one that she had to wear at the beer hall where she served. If he was uncomfortable before, it was even worse for Cliff now. His feet were hurting from the heels even before he started working.

Fortunately, despite the fact that it was head on Nancy’s body, everyone else just saw him as her. Unfortunately, this meant he had to deal with customers hitting on him or (at one point) even pinching his rear. After only thirty minutes, he was more than ready to apologize, but he still had seven hours to go on her shift. What a terrible way for him to have to spend his Saturday! He was never going to complain about his own job again!