Purple Lightning (Part 1)

It had thus far been a completely gorgeous day. People were out at the beach with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. Ted waded into the water for a quick swim. There was no way he could’ve anticipated the strange purple lightning bolt that shot out of the sky and struck the water.

The strange electric shock affected everyone in the water, swapping bodies of everyone in the nearby vicinity. Ted was now in the body of a woman wearing a blue bikini.

Ted took a short moment to overcome the shock of the lightning striking the water. He didn’t feel like he was hurt, but he didn’t feel normal either. Looking down, he saw the blue bikini bottoms barely covering an ass that certainly wasn’t his own. It was wrong; it was all wrong. But his head was having trouble wrapping around it all.

Happy

Mark stood at the side of the altar doing his best to maintain a smile. It had happened a few days ago when he awoke in the body of one of his fiancee’s best friends just days before his own wedding. Despite his shock, his own mind seemed to be the only thing out of place. Everyone else was completely normal; even his own body acted like he would, knowing things only he would know. Mark began to think of himself as a duplicate of his own consciousness in Irene’s body.

He had thought about telling his wife-to-be the truth about who he really was at her bachelorette party, but decided against it. She was still happy with the original Mark, and he wanted her to be happy. He couldn’t ruin it for her; he couldn’t ruin her wedding. So he decided to be happy for her instead, even if this big grin was killing him inside. He wanted to be happy because she was happy.

Dumpster Dive

Eric knew Mallory had thrown the Medallion of Zulu into the trash; he knew the trash was now in one of these dumpsters. He could jump in to fish it out, digging through trash for hours. He’d probably find it eventually, but was it worth it? Even if he found it, he’d never convince Mallory to swap back with him. She wanted his body, and there was nothing he could do to convince her otherwise. He could try to trick her somehow, but he couldn’t even begin to formulate a plan. He could try to find someone else to swap with, but most people he could think of would be a step down from being Mallory. Maybe the best option would be just to continue as her? He could just leave the medallion in that dumpster and just accept this was who he now was. Of course, there was still something tempting about having that power on hand...

Donor

Walter knew the next few months weren’t going to be easy. After his diagnosis, he expected to leave his wife a widow. But his doctor offered an unconventional hope. If possible, Walter’s brain could be transplanted into a new body. It would depend on finding a donor, a body that was compatible with proper paperwork or next of kin and a brain dead status despite being otherwise healthy. Walter never expected that donor to be a woman.

It would take time for his brain to connect to his nerve endings. He’d have to adapt to being a woman. Thankfully, he still had his wife by his side, who loved him no matter what body he was in.

Stupid Prom

Curt was supposed to be spending the weekend back from college hanging out with old friends, instead he was about to head off to his sister’s prom due to a freak accident cause by one of his dad’s wacky inventions that caused him to swap bodies with her. He trudged downstairs wearing her prom dress.

“My date is going to here any minute, and you look like THAT,” Samantha asked Curt.

“What? I’m wearing the stupid dress. I even have makeup on,” Curt grumbled to his sister.

“But my hair is a mess. Come on back upstairs; I’l help you fix it.”

“You know I’m doing you a huge favor here. You could let me slide on the hair.”

“You know I’m doing you a huge favor by not destroying your reputation.”

Curt sighed. He didn’t want to do any of this, but he knew if he didn’t, it would ruin his sister’s life, and she wouldn’t hesitate on ruining his right back. Until they could switch back, he was going to have to continue to pretend to be her, and that meant going to prom in her body.

Pain in the Ass

Noah couldn’t remember how many times he had to pull the wedgie out from between his butt cheeks since swapping bodies with Angela. He wished she owned something else besides thongs, because these things were literally a pain in the ass. He told himself that if they didn’t find a way to swap back soon, he’d have to go out and buy himself some new underwear. It was the last thing he wanted to buy while in Angela’s body, but he was starting to think he didn’t have much of a choice...

Outsmarted

When Geoff found the medallion in the thrift shop, he wondered if it was what he thought it was. He bought the small trinket with a few items and brought it home to confirm that it was the Medallion of Zulu. The myths were true, and it seemed he could wear the medallion and touch any of the clothes he had just bought to transform himself into the person who last wore them. 

He wondered if the fabled curse about people getting stuck was also true. He tried not to think about that too much right now, considering he had just touched a purple dress to the  medallion to transform himself into a woman. But he told himself that he’d be safe. He’d bring the medallion with him for the next twelve hours to make sure nothing happened to it. The only clothes he had that fit his current body was the purple dress he had transformed himself with, so he slipped it on. Then he hit up a few bars and clubs, pleasantly surprised by guys buying drinks for him. He kept a constant eye on the medallion throughout the night.

By the time 3AM rolled around, he was feeling like he had outsmarted the curse. However, he returned home to fire trucks surrounding his house. The damage to the structure was minimal, but the possessions inside had been destroyed -- including all his clothes and any hope of using any of it to return to his own body. The curse had outsmarted him.

The next day, Geoff returned to the thrift store. He’d have to buy some more clothes for this body. Despite the stress of the situation, he smiled; there just seemed to be something fun about looking at clothes for this body...

Honeymoon

“Don’t worry about it, Janet; I warned you before we got married that my mom was going to do this. It’s one of her weird traditions that happens to all the couples in my family. A spell is cast on the newlyweds to swap bodies for the first 48 hours of marriage. I know it’s not exactly how you wanted to kick off our honeymoon, but it’s not like we have much of a choice,” Kevin softly explained to his worried wife.

“I just didn’t know how weird it would feel to be a guy -- to be you,” Janet replied, “I just want my body back.”

“And you will soon. We’ll both be back to normal in less than two days now. Just try to enjoy yourself until then. l’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

Feel Good Story

While there were plenty of horror stories resulting from The Great Shift, there were also a few feel-good ones as well. Ozzie, for instance, had worked as a janitor at the airport for over forty years. Just about everyone who worked there considered him an absolute joy to be around. He swapped with a woman in her early 20s, likely coming off a flight from somewhere. Many expected him to retire (he technically had enough years of service built up), but he didn’t. He just continued on as before, barely even commenting on his now very different body -- except for a mention of how his joints no longer ached. Other workers still smiled when they saw him driving the sweeping machine around the airport, even if their own situations were far less pleasant.

Bad to Worse

It was difficult for Dana to raise the gun and aim it at the face of the man she loved, but she didn’t feel like she had much choice.

“I don’t know how or why you did it,” Dana said shakily, “But you stole my husband’s body, and now you’re going to give it back. If you don’t, I swear to God that I will shoot you no matter whose face you have.”

“I would if I could, lady,” The person inside her husband’s body begged, “I can’t control this. It just happens to me; I shift from person to person. That woman’s body your husband now has, that wasn’t me. I swapped with her two months ago. It’s why I come out here to the woods -- to be alone. And, please, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave. Because I’ve already been her, so if I swap again, it would be with you.”

“What do you --” Dana abruptly paused before feeling a slight chill, speaking the final word of her sentence, “mean?” But that last word, it wasn’t her own voice, it was her husband’s. She had swapped, just as the person suggested might happen. She was in the body of her own husband; she no longer had the gun in her hand either. The stranger, who had first swapped with her husband and now swapped with her was the one standing there with it in her hand. The situation had gone from bad to worse.

Chase

Neither Ralph nor Claudia had noticed each other when they were in the park, but it was hard to ignore the crazy man with what looked like a toy ray gun. He was going around aiming that weird toy at everyone, but both Ralph and Claudia were shocked when he actually zapped them with it, resulting in the pair swapping bodies. This was, of course, something neither of them could be oblivious to; they quickly began to run after the odd guy.

Claudia could really feel Ralph’s age as she ran. Things hurt in ways she would never had anticipated. Ralph, o the other hand, had difficulty with Claudia’s clothes. Running in heels was terribly painful, and he was sure the dress would flip up and expose Claudia’s underwear. Still, they had no choice but to try to push through it. There was no other choice but to catch up with that crazy man and confront him.

Decision

Matthew knew the reason the wedding was being delayed. No one could locate the best man, which just happened to be him. He was sure it was only a matter of time before they found his lifeless body back in a seeming coma hotel room. He had no idea that weird magic spell he found on the internet was a possession spell, nor did he expect to immediately possess his brother’s fiance, Erika.

He figured he had two options. One was to go through and marry his own brother, and hope the spell would just sort of wear off so things can go back to normal. The other was just call off the wedding and get himself as far away from there as possible. He’d be living Erika’s life for as long as he was stuck in her body -- but he’d be living it by his own rules, certainly not married to his own brother. He was going to have to make a decision soon...

Crime Spree (Part 3)

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

It was as he was distracted by his female body that the cops finally moved in on Sam. He put his hands up with the money still clutched in both fists. He bit down on the pill he kept under his tongue, but something different happened. He didn’t just return to his own body. He became a spirit, once again in search of a new body. He could only guess something had happened to it, which meant he needed to possess another victim. It had to be someone close, and the cops seemed to be the only options. The three male cops right in front of his would all be fine -- physically fit and decent-looking enough. But a fourth, standing a little further back, was a woman. She was cute enough, and Sam thought it might not be so bad to stay on this side of the gender fence for a while. And so he picked...

Crime Spree (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Of course, Sam became well aware of the downside of possessing a woman as well. He felt awkward almost immediately, like his body was all out of proportion and there was weight in places he didn’t expect it and other things were thinner or altogether missing. Having possessed a wide variety of men in the past, he had come to expect certain variation in body types, but a woman’s body was just well out of his comfort zone. Then there were the clothes. The shoes were uncomfortable to walk in, the top dug into his back, the pants were tight. And speaking of pants, they also had no pockets, so he couldn’t even think of anything else to do but just sort of run around with money in both fists. He was sure this made him even more likely to get caught, but he still couldn’t argue with results.

Crime Spree (Part 1)

Sam had been a lifelong petty criminal, but lately he had been able to step up his game. He wasn’t sure how the strange pills came to arrive at his door, but the fact that they allowed him to possess someone else’s body for a time just made pulling off robberies so much easier. He’d go to a bank, putting a bag with a gun and a spare pill well hidden outside. He’d use one pill to swap with someone nearby then go back and pick up the bag. He’d demand some cash from a teller, then start going around town. He’d exchange some for change from stores, and deposit it bit by bit into his own account using various ATMs. The spare pill would be under his tongue the entire time. If the cops caught him, he’d chew down and return to his own body. He had a couple close calls -- including one time when the body he had possessed got shot.

Today, he had ended up possessing a woman -- something he had never done before. He would’ve preferred a guy, but there was really no one else around. As he continued with the rest of his plan, he was starting to think there may be some advantages of being a woman. He had already deposited more of his score into his account than usual, and he didn’t see any sign of the cops anywhere.

New Year (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

After a week passed, everyone who had been at the party was resigned to the fact that they were never going to get their own body back. Again, this was much easier for couples than for someone like Adam -- who was stuck in the body of an almost total stranger (though he did learn her name was Elle). Adjusting to Elle’s life was the easy part. She didn’t seem to have much of a job, her parents still sent her plenty of money, and she had a nice place filled with nice things. Actually being Elle was a lot harder. She seemed to only own fancy, feminine clothes; people would drop in expecting her to be up on the latest trend of whatever; she had an active social media following. Adam missed being Adam, and spent the days longing to return to his own body.

New Year

When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, no one could’ve predicting the weird body swapping event that affected everyone at the party. Proximity seemed to be a factor, so most couples swapped bodies with the partner they had been kissing at midnight. For those who came to the party solo, they either swapped with another single guest or with the person they had found to kiss. Shortly before midnight, Adam had found a woman in a silver dress to agree to let him kiss her on the cheek. When he found himself in her body at 12:01 he took his glass of champagne and went straight to the bathroom. Being someone else was completely surreal. For about ten minutes, he wondered if he had been drugged -- but it all felt too real to be some sort of euphoric high. He was now in the body of a woman he had asked to kiss on impulse; he didn’t even know her name!

A Deal's a Deal

It sounded like a good deal. Sure, Brittany was asking for a lot. She wanted Jack’s body; however, in exchange she would give Jack the spell book that contained the body swapping spell. Jack had always been a scrawny guy, but a spell that could swap bodies meant he didn’t have to remain that way. He could swap with a football player or a body builder or just someone more attractive than he was. Plus, there was no telling what other kinds of spells were in there. He didn’t ask why Brittany wanted his body or for any more details. He probably should’ve.

Once he was inside Brittany’s body and had the book, he realized a big problem. All the spells were written with weird symbols that he had no idea how to pronounce. He couldn’t even understand which spell was the body swapping spell. He tried to ask for some help on how she translated it, but Brittany just told him a deal is a deal, and she handed over the book as agreed. He still wasn’t sure why Brittany wanted his body, but he knew he was going to be stuck in hers.

Checked in

Edgar was unconscious when he was checked into the hospital. The only reason he even knew he was in there was because his spirit floated above his body. It actually got kind of boring to just be hanging around in his own room, but he figured that, as a spirit, he could go anywhere. It turned out he couldn’t actually just go ANYWHERE, his spirit seemed bound to the hospital. It was still entertaining to fly about inside among the doctors, nurses, and the patients. However, one day he got stuck in one particular room where a woman lay on life support. And the distance he could travel away from her became shorter and shorter. He was being drawn to her. There was nothing he could do to stop it, but he was going to merge into her body. He was going to become this woman. But what about his own body? 

Fit (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Realizing he was now in shape was one thing, but realizing exactly how much turned ut to be another. As he guessed, this woman was pretty upset to now be in Alex’s former body. She got in his face quite aggressively. Alex pushed his former body away quite effortlessly and even landed a punch. After which, Alex flexed. He couldn’t believe the muscles. It was obvious why the woman had been upset, but it’s not like he was to blame for the body swap -- he was just a lucky beneficiary.

Fit

Alex had been walking by a gym when the Great Shift struck, and he ended up swapping bodies with a woman who was on her way inside. The first thing he noticed was, of course, his new gender, as he gently cupped his unfamiliar parts. And the next thing he noticed was how good he felt, like he was full of energy and ready to run up and down a hill. He guessed this woman must go the gym often, which was quite in contrast to Alex’s own lifestyle of sitting on the couch and playing video games. He was kind of assuming that maybe the woman he swapped with was less happy about the swap.

Down in the Park

Fred’s head was feeling hazy and confused; it was as though all the blood had rushed to it for no good reason. As he tried to shake the feeling, he looked across the park.

His jaw dropped in shock as he lifted a finger to point, “That’s my body. What’s it doing over there?”

He paused for a moment to look as his finger, and then asked more questions, “Why is my nail long and painted? And what’s wrong with my voice?”

He then screamed in a pitch higher than he could ever imagine he could make as he realized he was now in the body of a woman. He wasn’t the only one though. It seemed everyone in the entire park had swapped with someone else.

The hazy feeling had gone away, and now Fred was in outright panic mode. He had swapped bodies with a woman! 

Closer Forever

All the guests had left, and Robert and Jane were basking in the glow of their newlywed love in the now empty reception hall. They hardly even noticed the old lady wander in off the street.

“Do you love your new bride?” The lady approached Robert and asked.

“Of course,” He replied.

“And you want to be close to her forever? Be with her?”

“Yes, yes.” He said hoping the woman would leave.

Instead she waved her hand, which caused Robert and Jane to pass out. Robert awoke some time later, feeling quite strange. He couldn’t seem to move the left half of his body, but looking down it actually wasn’t his body at all! Then he looked over to see himself in a mirror and it got even weirder. He was a one head of a two-headed Jane! 

A few minutes later, Jane’s side awoke. She was just as freaked out as her husband.

“What did that old lady do to us? Where did she go? She needs to fix this!” Jane screamed.

“I guess she made me close to you,” Robert said, feeling very with Jane’s voice coming from his mouth, “To make me be with you. I’ll love you no matter what, but we do need to find her and get her to fix it. But we’ll need to coordinate. We each seem to only control half your body...”

Not Easy

Ed had never realized how difficult morning routines could be for a woman. Blow drying hair, doing makeup, picking an outfit -- it was just so time consuming. In fact, being a woman for the rest of the day was also pretty stressful. He realized this was probably all part of the experiment that he signed up for, to be in someone else’s body for a month. He just hadn’t expected to swap with a woman! The other strange piece of the swap was that despite feeling anxiety and stress about it all, he also seemed to KNOW how to do it all. It was like he kept certain pieces of the woman he swapped with. He was a little worried about anything that might linger when he returned to his own body.

Not Held Back

Much like the rest of the world, Lewis found himself inside a very different body as a result of the Great Shift. When it happened, he asked a few people around the location he was now in to confirm he wasn’t the only one, then he quickly developed a plan. He recognized the area, noting it was only about two miles from where he lived; it was a reasonable walk. He could get into his house with the hidden spare key, then he’d just wait for more information to become available.

However, as he began to set out, he was impeded by his own feet. He was having some serious difficulty walking thanks to the heels on this body’s shoes. Balancing was tough, and he’d have to go much slower than he planned. He told himself he could still do it -- and maybe it’d get easier, or maybe he’d find new shoes along the way. He knew he was moving awkwardly and probably not very ladylike, even if now was most certainly a lady. As he continued to move along, he felt a bra strap digging into him, the long hair on his head made him sweat. And speaking of sweat, the leather pants were also quite annoying for that reason, in addition to being tight and tough to move in. Still, he wasn’t going to let any of this hold him back.

Miles

“Jen...I know this is going to sound crazy, but don’t hang up the phone. This is your boyfriend Neil calling.” Neil paused while Jen talked.

“I know its crazy, but I was working on an invention in the basement and something weird happened. Suddenly, I was outside in someone else’s body. I don’t know who she is or how it happened, or if it even has anything to do with my invention. But I think it probably did. I just need you to go downstairs and make sure I don’t...I mean, make sure my body doesn’t do anything crazy, like smash the device. I need to figure out where I am and how to get home, and it looks like...”

Neil’s heart sank as he looked at a sign, “Like I’m 3,000 miles from home.”

Last Resort

It had been a rough day for Jason. He had been minding his own business when he swapped bodies with that ballerina on the street. They tried banging their heads together, wishing, a fortune teller, and much more. As a last hope, Jason entered a church. He wasn’t religious, but he even tried praying. It also didn’t work, so then he just put his feet up and resigned to the fact that this was his body now. He guessed that he would have to learn how to dance, as he imagined there was little else on this woman’s resume.

Bolt

The rain was coming down hard. There was thunder and lightning in the sky. Aaron stood on the side of pool with umbrella. He looked over his shoulder at Deborah.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He asked her with a nervous smile.

“We swapped bodies last time we were in this pool when that weird lightning bolt struck it while we swam. Maybe if another bolt strikes it again we’ll swap back,” She reasoned.

“But that bolt struck on a clear day out of nowhere. It wasn’t normal. It was almost like magic. This feels like a real storm...a dangerous one at that!”

“Can you think of any other time lightning will strike? It’s been a week since we’ve even had any rain. Now maybe you’re enjoying my body. Maybe you love that one piece swimsuit and my skirts and dresses. Maybe in another week you’ll just love sticking a tampon --”

Aaron cut her off, “I get it! Let’s give this a try! But I sure hope we end up back in our own bodies and not the hospital.”

Dorm

For the first few months of the school year, no one in the freshman dorm questioned how Tony got a bunch of beer every Saturday night. But a few guys got suspicious and followed him after class one Friday night. They were shocked when he used an odd looking medallion that transformed him into a woman -- one that was old enough to buy beer! A few of the guys followed Tony to the store; the others nabbed the medallion from Tony’s room. They couldn’t quite figure out how it worked, so ultimately they gave up and threw it in the trash.

The next day, Tony panicked when he couldn’t find the medallion. One of the guys overheard him and confessed what they had done. Tony freaked out. Without the medallion, he’d be stuck like this! The guy just shrugged and told Tony that at least he could still keep getting beer for everyone.

Taste Buds

It was one of the things no one talked much about after The Great Shift; how everything just tasted different. Joe noticed it instantly. Things he used to love now tasted bland; foods that formerly disgusted him were now delicious. He guessed it made sense; after all, he (much like the rest of the world) now had a completely different set of taste buds along with a completely different body.

Still, when the fast food joint reopened by his house, he hoped his fond memories would win out over his new tongue. However, one bite and he was instantly disappointed. The burger was no longer delicious; it was gross. He scowled. He could live with being a woman, but how could he live hating the foods he once loved?

Mixer (Part 4)

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

The next day was Sunday, and Greg reluctantly put on another one of Karen’s conservative outfits. He headed straight to the store in order to buy more comfortable stuff to wear. He might still have to dress like this during the week, but he could at least wear something relaxing on the weekend, right? Shopping in the women’s section felt weird.

As he looked, he felt the phone in his purse vibrate. He had a message. He knew the number; it was his own. Karen was texting him about the body swap; she was not happy.