One Last Thing

Bethany and Harold had worked closely together in their grad program to develop their invention. Both were pleasantly surprised when they tested their brain swapping machine and found it worked perfectly. The problems only started when they tried to swap back. It didn’t take them long to discover the parts that had been fried. Replacements were quickly ordered, but they would take a few days to arrive. It meant that Bethany and Harold would be stuck in each other’s bodies for a few days. Bethany spent a few hours giving Harold detailed instructions about how to act, what to wear, and general tips on not revealing the swap. Harold nodded intently as he listened. She was pretty sure he was getting most of it. Then Bethany asked if she needed to know things about being a guy.

Harold shrugged and sat down, “Not much, I guess. Being a guy is pretty easy.”

Bethany couldn’t notice Harold’s mannerism and the way he sat. She sighed, “One last thing. Please cross your legs when you sit. Or at least put your knees together.”

“But I’ll totally crush my balls crossing my legs,” Harold objected before he realized the stupidity of his comment and laughed, “Oh, yeah, guess I don’t have those any more.”

“Not until we fix this machine. You’ll get used to it though.”

Harold frowned, “I don’t want to get used to it! I want the replacement parts to come, so we can repair our invention, and get back to normal!”

“We both do. Believe me...”

Cover

Vance woke up in the morning with the taste of stale booze and cigarettes in his mouth. He tried to think back to the night before, but it was all a blur. As he trudged along to the bathroom he felt something was off, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Then as he caught his reflection in the mirror, his jaw dropped. Looking back at him from the mirror was a gorgeous woman. His mind was in a panic, but he quickly decided to his the streets to look for some answers. Digging through her wardrobe, his selection seemed quite limited. With little choice, he tied his long hair up, put on some leather pants, and headed out.

He didn’t make it very far until he stumbled across a wall plastered with the covers of fashion magazines. Sure enough, he recognized a face on one of them. It was the one that had looked back at him from the mirror this morning. It seemed he was not just a woman, he was a model -- one famous enough to be on the cover of a magazine at that! None of this seemed to make him feel much better, but at least he knew a little more about who he now was...

Scent

Why do women smell so good? Particularly their hair? It was a question that Randall often asked himself. He would often take deep whiffs around his ex-girlfriends, and every single one of them had told him he was weird after he explained why he was doing it. Well, because of the Great Shift, he no longer had to depend on a girlfriend. He pulled a piece of hair, moved it in front of his nose, and inhaled deeply. He never got tired of it. He couldn’t believe how good his own hair smelled now that he was a woman. He still had no idea why any of his exes ever made him feel bad for enjoying this...

Not Like This

It wasn’t often that Mark brought a woman he randomly met at a bar one night back to his place, but he had a feeling that Tiffany was different. He connected with her in a way that he couldn’t imagine, so he was a little disappointed when he awoke the morning after their one night stand to find her gone. He wondered why she had run off...that is until he got to the bathroom and saw his reflection. It seems Tiffany didn’t run off; instead, at some point in the night they had fused into a single person. He screamed in shock as he saw his face on Tiffany’s otherwise gorgeous body. He pulled up on her pink shirt to reveal more of his body. He felt like some sort of freak. He wanted to get close to Tiffany, but not like this! Not like this at all!

Flash (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Jason felt the smooth skin on his face. It was weird not having stubble. There were others differences to his body that were bothering him, but he didn’t feel so ready to explore them. In fact, he didn’t even want to think about them right now. But he knew he couldn’t hold his pee in forever, and he’d eventually have to worry about a monthly visitor as well. He pushed both thoughts out of his mind as he continued to feel his face. It was so smooth; it was so weird.

Flash

In the distance it looked like a flash of lightning, but then the strange light hit him like truck. Jason was knocked off his feet and onto the ground. He picked himself up, feeling quite odd. He grabbed his head with a throbbing pain, and as he got to his feet he noticed the change to his body. He was wearing a short dress, and he had a womans body. It wasn’t his body! What had happened. His jaw dropped. He couldn’t be a woman; he just couldn’t! It was impossible! Yet the evidence was right there when he looked down. The short orange dress, the high heels. He was a woman!

Adapting

Paul felt that he adapted pretty well to the Great Shift. He was able to adjust to being a woman fairly well. He would go out and get his hair done, do his makeup, and embrace a very feminine wardrobe. Still, there were a few things that did bother him. A few of the pants he owned seemed just a little too tight. As a result, he often felt like his ass looked a little big in some of them. Then again, he supposed this was a feeling women had felt all the time. Maybe he was adapting even better than he imagined.

Boss (Part 3)

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

Frank was ecstatic when after about thirty minutes, everyone returned from lunch. He unlocked the door and called out.

“Frank,” He said, “Could you come in here?”

Frank sat on the corner of Heather’s desk while his own body sat in the corner. Frank could see his body sweating, and it appeared to be quite nervous.

“What’s wrong?” Frank asked.

“Do you not know, Ma’am?”

“Know what?”

“The Great Shift. There are news reports. Everyone in the world seems to have just swapped bodies. By the way, I’m actually Emily from accounting.”

Frank paused. Suddenly the reality of what happened was setting in. He was in his boss’s body, but no one knew it. Instead of being disgusted, he suddenly felt empowered instead. He made a snap judgment.

“Body swapping?” He scoffed, “Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. Now get back to work.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Emily cowered from Frank’s body as she ran off.

Things were going to get interesting...

Boss (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Frank slowly sat down. The tight skirt and heels made it awkward, but he managed as best he could. For the next few minutes, he fiddled with the pens on Heather’s desk. He was too nervous to do much of anything. He thought about going out to talk to her secretary, but he wasn’t sure what he would say. He decided the only thing he could do was wait until his own body got back from lunch. Luckily, the door to Heather’s office was locked, and no one would dare bother her. He just had to wait it out. Every second doing so felt like torture. He was reminded of every time he was stuck in a meeting with Heather or even just in the same room, but this was worse. So much worse...

Boss

No one in the office liked Heather. She inherited the company from her father a few months ago, and everyone felt like she acted entitled and spoiled. She didn’t understand the business and seemed more interested in just bossing people around. Frank was pretty happy to be able to escape with his co-workers for an hour in the middle of the day to go get some lunch.

But one was day, just as he was leaving, he felt himself being sucked back in--and not figuratively. It was like his soul was sucked right back into the building. He groaned when he realized it had sucked him back right into Heather’s office, but the groan sounded odd. He coughed to clear his throat, but it too sounded odd. That’s when it dawned on him that he wasn’t just in Heather’s office; he was also in her body!

The shock alone made him lose his balance as he back up to the desk and put his hands on there to hold himself. He couldn’t believe it! Of all the people in his office to swap bodies with, he had to become his bitch of a boss!

Crashed

As he blazed down the road in his car, Kyle knew he was speeding. He was sure he could handle it, even if swerved a little bit after checking out a hot woman on the side of the road. The next thing he knew, he saw a bright flash. He was sure he hadn’t hit anything, but he could also tell he was no longer moving. Plus, he was no longer sitting but standing. He looked down in shock, recognizing the long legs and outfit. They both belonged to the woman he had just checked out...except that they were both on him now. As he reached down to feel the smooth and unfamiliar skin, he heard a crash. Somehow he knew something had happened to his original body, but with these heels, he was in no shape to run over to investigate.

The accident was one of many that resulted from the massive body swapping incident that would come to be known as The Great Shift. The woman who found herself in Kyle’s body was unable to understand what was going on fast enough, and ended up crashing the car. If he had just been going a little slower, his body probably would have survived. Along with his new female body, it was something he would just have to live with...

The Moment

“I still remember the moment very clearly,” Craig said to his psychiatrist describing the moments right after the Great Shift, “I felt a little woozy. I was running late for a meeting, so I checked my watch. That’s when I realized my watch was not on my wrist. I wondered if I had lost it, or maybe if I had just been mistaken about putting it in the morning. And that’s when I began to notice the wrist itself. It was thin and the arm was hairless. The nails on my hand appeared to be manicured. I took a step and I wobbled on the heels now on my feet. My brain was having a hard time processing that I was now in a new body -- that I was now a woman. In fact, it’s still hard for me even now sometimes. It’s just things like, well, even describing this all to you and hearing my own voice be so high pitched. It’s really hard to get used to. I guess that’s why I am here in the first place, isn’t it?”

The Great What?

Tyrone nearly vomited when he suddenly found himself drinking a bottle of something labeled “Detox.” Then when he realized he now had the body of a woman, he grabbed a nearby bottle of wine along with a cup and began drinking.

It was a few hours later when he saw his own former body enter the room. By this time, he was pretty drunk.

“Hey,” Tyrone slurred while drunkenly
pointing a finger, “That’s me.”

“Yes,” His own body replied, “And you’re me. We’ve switched bodies, and if you turned on a TV, you’d probably know why. Did you hear about the Great Shift?”

“The Great What? Naw, but this body is pretty great. I can’t say I mind it...”

Impressed

“I’ve got to say I’m somewhat impressed,” Greg laughed, “The fact that you even realized I’m not actually your wife is pretty impressive. But chaining me up in the basement isn’t going to do you much good. You see, Frank, I’m what is called a bodyhopper. I can jump my spirit from body to body as I please, but being stuck down here, I can’t exactly hop back into my own body. So, I guess...”

As Greg trailed off, Frank suddenly felt odd. He soon realized he was now in the body of his own wife and chained up. “What did you do?” Frank snapped as he struggled.

“We’re you not paying any attention? Since I couldn’t hop back to my own body, I escaped by hopping into yours. And your soul? Well, it wound up where I had been, in your wife’s body. I hope you enjoy it, as I can’t be bothered to sort this all out for you.”

Step Up (Part 5)

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.
Click here for Part 3.
Click here for Part 4.

Tim’s least favorite moment was date nights with his dad. For starters, he’d have to spend much of the day at the hair salon and beauty parlor getting ready. This ruined his favorite part of the day. And while he had adapted mostly well to his stepmom’s wardrobe, the outfits she wore to dress up were uncomfortable. Then there was coming back from the date. His father had certain...expectations, and Tim put on a brave face and went through with them. He never objected no matter how much he wanted to. He just smiled and did whatever his dad wanted of him after the date, never revealing he wasn’t actually who he appeared to be...

Step Up (Part 4)

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

Tim enjoyed weekdays a lot. From the time his dad went to work and his brothers and sisters went to school until the time they got home, he had an opportunity to feel like himself -- despite the body he currently had. He had to do a few chores like going to the store, doing the laundry, or cleaning the house, but he could also play video games or watch some TV. Of course, the moment he heard anyone get home, he put a big smile on his face and played the role of caring mother of loving wife. It was beginning to get really tiring, but if he stopped, he knew how much it would let the family down.

Step Up (Part 3)

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

When Tim arrived at home, he received such a homecoming from his family that he nearly cried. It was a little awkward that he couldn’t tell them that he was really Tim, but it was even weirder that there was already a Tim. His body was standing there acting completely normal...which he supposed should be no surprise. To the original Tim, everything WAS normal. After about fifteen minutes, he excused himself upstairs to get some rest.

Tim’s dad confonted him at the top of the stairs. He asked if everything was okay. Tim smiled back, and said, “Of course, it is.”

“You just seemed a little distant down there,” His dad replied, “Like something was a bit off.”

“The hospital was tough, and I’m really just tired.” After only fifteen minutes, Tim was starting to doubt his decision and wondered if was going to actually be able to pull this off.

Step Up (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Tim’s family had been told about the experimental procedure, and Tim’s dad had been particularly relieved to hear it had worked. But when Tim’s stepmom finally awoke, and the doctors discovered she was essentially a copy of Tim; they decided to give Tim the decision to tell his family or not. Tim sighed. He didn’t want to cause his family any more pain. He told the doctors tell them his stepmom was fine. He’d do his best to act like Linda Connors and pretend to be his own stepmom. It was why he tried to smile no matter how awkward or uncomfortable he felt. He had to pretend to be Linda -- for the sake of his family.

Tim thought about this moment as the doctors escorted him outside after finally being discharged. They put him in the back of a self-driving cab. As Tim began to enter his address into the guided navigation, the doctors asked him if was sure if he could handle this.

“Honestly, no,” Tim said with a smile, “But I feel like I got to try. For my family, I’ve got to try...”

Step Up (Part 1)

Tim stood up and went to look at the mirror in his room and smiled. He didn’t exactly feel like smiling, but he knew he had to practice. After all, the doctors would be sending him home tomorrow, and he needed to learn to keep up appearances. He had come into the hospital after a horrible car accident. He more than remembered getting into the accident while driving with his stepmother, and he even more clearly remembered waking up in her body!

The doctors quickly tried to calm him. They told him that he was, in fact, fine. Tim angrily gestured to his body to indicate he was not fine. The doctors shook their heads. Tim was, in fact, only knocked out with a few cuts and scrapes, but his stepmom was in poor shape. A piece of glass had pierced her brain, and the doctors were able to heal it using experimental procedures. Those procedures needed a second subject’s brain to help heal the damaged parts. With Tim’s being the closet brain available, the doctors went with it. Tim was hooked up to a machine and the doctors went to work.

Unfortunately, the damaged portion of his stepmom’s brain was largely responsible for the sense of self (personality, memories, and such). As a result, the procedure essentially created a second Tim. One was still in his original body while the other was now in the body of his stepmother!

Disappointment

When the body swapping service first started up, Malcolm nearly balked at the first. It was a couple hundred dollars just to submit his own photo and obtain the catalog of others he could swap with. It took several weeks to arrive in the mail -- a thick, phonebook-like glossy filled with people’s faces and a few scant details. He nervously filled out a form where he made his picks ordered from one to ten, then he wrote in his bank information knowing he’d soon be around a hundred thousand dollars poorer. He told himself it would be worth it when he finally was able to achieve his long time dream of swapping bodies with a woman.

Details arrived back some time later with instructions about when and where to go for the swap. He was also advised that he’d be swapping with number six on his list, Emily. He looked back to the catalog to see a pretty smiling face he had selected. Now he just needed to wait.

Arriving at the lab on the scheduled day, Malcolm was giddy. He was given some instructions before being put under. He had wonderful dreams about the body he’d be waking up with.

His eyes fluttered open some time later, and he was shown a mirror. He smiled as he recognized the pretty reflection looking back at him. He was now in Emily’s body! But something didn’t quite feel right. In a word, he felt...heavy. Looking down, he realized that Emily’s body was bigger than he anticipated from her head shot. A part of him felt disappointed; another part of him felt cheated. He thought about protesting, but he knew the documents he had signed were air-tight. He was going to be stuck in body until he could pay up enough to try again. As he left the lab and headed back home, he just sighed, thinking he’d make the most of it. After all, he was still going to get to experience being a woman!

Never Hear the End of It

Allen was pretty upset when he saw Marilyn enter. There she was with his body wearing full makeup.

“What are you doing!?” He screamed, “I get made fun of enough as it is. If anyone saw my body like that, I’ll never hear the end of it when we finally swap back.”

“IF we ever swap back,” Marilyn corrected, “And speaking of appearances, have you looked in a mirror? You’ve made me look a dork every single day!”

“I’m at least trying here! Being a woman is hard! I’m sorry if I can’t balance on your heels, match your outfits probably, or stuff like that!”

“You could at least put in my contact lenses!”

Bet

Ted picked himself up off the floor. There was something wrong with his body -- really wrong -- in fact, it wasn’t his body at all. He tried to think about what happened to him just before the collapse. He had been playing pool; he lost. He had placed a bet just before hand. What was it? Oh, yeah, anything she wanted. He couldn’t imagine that what she wanted was his body. It seemed impossible. Yet, here he was. He was now her. He could only assume she had run off with his body. He didn’t want to think about it. Of course, he didn’t want to think about what was right in front of him now either.

Accomplishment (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Ronald guessed he’d have to adjust to being a woman for the time being. After all, it would probably be weeks before he’d be able to perfect his device to a point where he’d be able to transfer his consciousness back into his own body. Though, to be honest, he didn’t really care. He had just made a machine that could change the world! He smiled smugly, feeling quite proud of himself.

Accomplishment

Ronald celebrated with intense joy. His invention was a complete success. He managed to beam his consciousness into a completely different body miles away. Of course, due to the distance and the fact that he was still testing, he wasn’t quite able to aim for anyone in particular. As a result, he found himself in the body of a woman. But he didn’t care. He was just overjoyed with the fact that his invention actually worked. Sure, he’d also have to figure out a way to get back to is own body, but he could work on that later. For now, he was satisfied with his accomplishments.

Admit

“Yeah, yeah, I think I can deal with this,” Frank said as he put his foot up on the desk, “I mean, I think I can deal with being a chick for a few days. I mean, how hard can it be? Plus, we’re going to reverse this whole thing soon enough.”

Sally smiled at Frank’s arrogance. Her monthly cramps would be starting soon, and she couldn’t wait to see how he’d cope with them. He was sitting with a smug look on his face now, but she was sure he’d be curled up in pain in just a few hours. Then he’d finally admit just how hard it is to be a woman in this world.

Good Vibrations

When the walls of his apartment began to vibrate, Lance put his hand on the wall to feel. He then felt very odd noticed he was no longer in his own apartment -- and, in fact, he was no longer in his own body either. He looked in the mirror and recognized his reflection; it belonged to the woman from 3F. He headed down in the lobby in hopes of getting some answers with his heels clicking clumsily down the steps. Most of the residents were there, apparently in a similar situation to Lance. The eccentric white-haired man who lived int he basement was attempting to calm everyone down, explaining he was responsible but also that he could fix it.

Lance urged everyone to calm down, to give the man the time he needed. He asked how long he needed? A few hours? A day?

Lance’s jaw dropped when the man replied calmly by saying “six months.” He was all for giving this guy the time he needed, but he didn’t want to be stuck in a woman’s body for that long!

Ticket

Officer Clarke caught the car doing 80MPH in a 30. He smiled as he pulled it over, figuring this would the easiest ticket he ever wrote.

“Could you step out of the vehicle please, Miss?” Officer Clarke asked to the woman behind the wheel, “Do you know how fast you were going?”

“Oh, thank goodness,” The woman replied, “I am so glad to see you. I had no idea how fast I was going. I don’t even know whose body I’m in. My name is Malcolm Goode. I suddenly found myself driving this car with your lights in my rearview. I pulled over as quickly as possible. Could you help me figure out how I swapped into this body or how to get back?”

Officer Clarke had heard some tall tales trying to get out tickets, but he had no idea how to even respond to this one...

About Time

“Well, it’s about time!” Paul thought to himself as he read through the book. Inside, he finally found the body swap spell that Esther must have used to steal his body. He had been digging through her books for the past year looking for it. He carefully studied the words and took stock of the list of ingredients. It seemed like he’d finally have a way to get back his own body until he turned the page to read the end of the spell and found a note: “Warning: This spell cannot be reversed!” His heart sank when he read that; it seems like he was stuck in Esther’s body for good!

Rich, Powerful, Important

As Jack walked out of the cab and onto the street, he could hear the heels of his shoes clicking on the street. When he first got swapped into the body of the cab driver, he had a vision of the person whose life he’d end up stealing -- rich, powerful, important. He never imagined such a person would be a woman. Still, when she got into the cab, he recognized her immediately. He had read all the financial magazines and had seen her face on the cover. She had built a fashion empire at such a young age and made a fortune. It was really everything he wanted, just in a rather unexpected way. As they reached their destination, he smiled and said, “Have a nice day.” It was that simple to swap with her, and indeed he was now her. He could hear her engine idling as he walked away, but he knew she couldn’t do anything except drive away. The magic of the cab that allowed the body swap in the first place would never allow the new driver to do anything except leave...

Misses

“Come on, Liz, seriously?” Jason begged, “You must’ve brought me something else to wear. This is uncomfortable, and I feel really exposed.”

Elizabeth smiled, “You were the one who was curious about what it felt like to be a woman. And, trust me, there’s no bigger part of being a woman than feeling both uncomfortable and exposed.”

Jason sighed but before he could object further, Elizabeth cut him off.

“And if you don’t stop whining about it, I won’t ever swap our bodies back. So you better learn to feel comfortable very fast, Mister...or should I say Misses?”

Natural Beauty

Nate gave one last look in the mirror before washing the makeup of his face. He couldn’t imagine he’d look this amazing again for a while. After all, the Great Shift had swapped him in this stunning body earlier that day, but he knew he’d never be able to replicate how she had done her makeup for quite some time. Heck, he didn’t know the first thing about wearing makeup, but it sure did enhance this body’s natural beauty!