New Year's Eve (Part 2)

View New Year's Eve (Part 1) here.

Tyler was pretty amused as he watched the crowded of people freaking out about their new bodies. It was even better as the police started to open up the barricades and usher people to go back home. Soon enough, the massive number of swapped people were overcome by people who weren’t swapped just trying to get out of there.

His amusement only lasted so long before he realized just how cold he was now without a coat on. He began to walk and seemed to be able to go where he wanted without being stopped by police or anyone else.

Finally, a man with a clipboard approached him. “Thank goodness, Miss Chen, we’ve been looking for you. We need you to introduce the next band.”

“Uh, no problem,” Tyler said, “Can I get my coat? Who am I introducing?”

“Come with me,” The man with the clipboard said.

And so Tyler followed, quite sure that he was going to have a very interesting life from here on out.

New Year's Eve (Part 1)

Tyler looked at the small device in his hand. It was pretty hard to believe, but the guy who gave it to him told that once he activated it, it would swap the bodies of everyone in a 15 meter radius -- but that he should also be careful, because it would only work once. Part of Tyler didn’t quite believe this little thing could actually do that, but another part of him was excited about the humor and chaos it would cause if it DID work. He had to try it, and he had to do it in the most crowded place he could think of -- Times Square in New York City on New Year’s Eve!

He was rounded into a some barricades with a bunch of tourists and just after midnight, he pressed the button. Much to his surprised, he was swapped along with a good chunk of the crowd. For some reason he thought that if he was the one holding the device, he would somehow be exempt, even though that was obviously not true.

He wondered who he was now. He tried to assess quickly. He was clearly a woman in a sparkly red dress. He wasn’t wearing a coat despite the cold, and he wasn’t stuck in one of the barricaded areas. He wondered if he was some sort of celebrity?

Reporting Live

“...And I’m Lori Graves, I guess, reporting live from midtown. Back to you in the studio.” David paused, and it felt like forever before he heard the next words.

“Cut,” The cameraman finally said, “You did great. Thanks for filling in for Miss Graves.”

David sighed, “I guess I’m not just filling in for her. I AM her now. At least that’s what they were saying in the studio, right? This Great Shift thing; they say it’s going to be permanent.”

“How could they possibly know that yet? It’s been like an hour since everyone swapped bodies. And you did a great job reporting on the scene, by the way; I’m sure they’ll keep you on even if you aren’t the real Lori Graves.”

“I think her body must have some sort of innate ability or muscle memory or something. I’ve never been good at any sort of public speaking! I’m a construction worker for God’s sake! Or I was at least. Don’t think I can do that anymore. If I do have Lori’s abilities, I guess I might as well pick this up again. Are we going live again soon?”

Get a Real Job

It was a common argument in their household. Deborah would yell at her husband Patrick to get a real job, and Patrick would retort that being a content creator and influencer IS a real job. It would go back and forth for hours, but neither could have anticipated a shock from one of their appliances to end up swapping their bodies.

Patrick hated being in Deborah’s body. He hated getting up early, getting dressed in nice clothes, and fighting through traffic. Then once he got there, it seems all anyone did was should stupid buzzwords like “synergy” and “scaling.” No one seemed to actually DO anything though! He kept his mouth shut and was praised as a genius.

When he got back home, he scoffed when his wife suggested they try to find a way back to normal. Why should he? As a content creator, he had to produce a lot of stuff and do a lot of work, but as Deborah? He just sat around all day and did nothing...and got paid well for it! Her so-called “real job” didn’t seem to be any work whatsoever!

Funeral Prayer

All of my friends and I were in disbelief when Luke died. He had been my college roommate, and we stayed close after school. He ended up getting cancer and passed at the age of 35. Cancer sucks. That’s for sure.

I went to the funeral home to pay my respects. I knelt down in front of his coffin and began to sort of pray -- I wasn’t all that religious, so it was more just like thinking a few thoughts in my head. An old man knelt down next to me, and a young woman soon knelt down on his other side.

The man prayed quietly, but loud enough for me to hear on my right side. “Dear Lord, it should be me in that box,” He said, “I should be in there! I’m old! Not him. Swap our places! Take me instead! Please!”

I know you’re supposed to pray with your eyes open, but I had been peaking (again, not religious), so I saw a weird light dance around where we were knealing. I could swear that I could literally touch and feel it.

“Holy shit!” The old man said, but his voice now seemed to be coming from my left side, “I’m alive? Oh, my, God, I’m alive! How is this possible?”

It would seem that someone or something had, in fact, did answer the old man’s prayers, who turned out to be Luke’s grandfather. Luke was now in the body of his own grandpa. I guess the woman and I had been too close to all of this. The weird light that swapped Luke and his grandfather also swapped the woman (it turns out her name was Simone) and me. I couldn’t believe I was now a woman! We tried praying again! We tried wishing. We tried whatever, but we both appeared to be stuck. We were glad Luke was alive, but we were more than concerned about its effect on us!

The Experiment Begins (Part 2)

View Part 1 of The Experiment Begins.

Ted found his way home and knocked on his door. His wife answered, surprised by the strange woman standing there.

“Oh, thank God, Rebecca, I’m home!” He said.

She just looked at him for a moment before asking, “Who are you?”

“It’s me! It’s Ted! I was kidnapped, but I escaped.”

Rebecca began to tear up. From her perspective, a strange woman arrived at her door talking about her long-missing husband. “You bitch!” She shouted, “What did you do to him?” She started swatting at him, and Tim tried to explain. Ultimately, he decided he would have to try again later and left.

He couldn’t imagine why Rebecca acted like that. Then the chip in his brain switched. Suddenly, he was keenly aware of his new body. Rebecca’s reaction now made a lot more sense. But how did they do this to him? What sort of experiments did they do that caused this? He thought about going back to demand to be returned to his body, but another effect of the chip seemed to be that he could no longer remember how he had gotten back home from the lab.

A Walk in the Park (Part 1)

It was gorgeous day out, so Jake decided to take his dog for a walk at the nearby park. He walked by the playground, and there was one kid playing with this weird plastic raygun that looked like it was some vintage 1960s sci-fi prop. He didn’t think anything of it when the kid aimed it at him, but the next thing he know, he was knocked out cold.

When he awoke his head was pounding. He pushed himself up so he could sit against a tree. People seemed to be in an outright panic. They were screaming and running. Once Jake was able to look down at his own body, he realized why. He now had dark skin, he was wearing a pink top with two clear breasts pushing it outward. It was very obvious he now had a body that wasn’t his own, and (to be more specific), he had the body of a woman! He told himself he wasn’t going to panic like others seemed to be doing. He just wanted to find his dog and get out of there.

Still Playing Santa

Barney had been dressing up as Santa for the local kids for many years. Unfortunately, thanks to the Great Shift earlier this year, Barney now had a new body, and he wasn’t sure he could convince anyone that he was Santa now. After all, instead of his older, portly body, he was now young, skinny, and female. Nevertheless, he had his Santa suit refitted, and put it on, ready to entertain.

It turns out the kids didn’t really care. However, now that many of the kids were in the bodies of adults, having them sit on his lap was often out of the question. Still, he realized he had to make an exception from time to time. One toung kid, now in the body of a rather burly man, burst out in tears when Barney asked him not to sit on his lap. He eventually relented. It was so painful, and he was sure his body would break. But he managed to go through the routine, and it opened the floodgate. Now ALL the kids in adult bodies wanted to do the same. It was going to be a long day.

Present

On Christmas Eve just before going to bed, Miles saw a rare shooting star out his window. He made the wish he always made, to be a woman. He knew it was silly, and he had come to accept it would never come true. Imagine his surprise when he woke up the next morning on an unfamilar couch, and sure enough, his wish had come true. He assessed his body. It looked pretty good; maybe about ten years older than he had been, but he couldn’t complain in the slighest! He looked at the presens under th tree for Maddie and Alyssa, he wondered which one he was!

He mood turned a little sour when two young girls calling him “mom.” A man, who he guessed was this woman’s husband, soon followed. While he was excited to be a woman, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be tied down to a family, at least not yet -- particularly with a man he had never chosen nor met! He feigned excitement but was secretly plotting an escape plan in his head.

Demonic

I woke up in the middle of the night with my room lit in an odd red tint. A beautiful woman with horns stood above my bed.

Before I could ask, she spoke, “Do not fear me, human. I am only here to grant you a wish.”

“Okay, but looking like that...there’s gotta be a catch, right?” I asked.

“Clever,” she laughed, “Oh, I’m almost completely guaranteed to twist whatever you say. I am a demon, as you can plainly see. But you also can’t refuse to wish.”

“And you can do anything as a demon?”

“Pretty much. As long as it is wished. Thre are some rules, but not many.”

“I guess,then...”I thought for a moment, “I wish I had your powers, but without any restrictions and without any negative stuff.”

She smiled. I could tell she was thinking of a way to twist my wish. It didn’t take her long. In an instant, I was now the one standing over the bed looking down at my own body.

“You swapped our bodies!” I shouted, “You made me a demon!”

“Being a demon is the only way to access demonic powers.”

“And I’m you! I’m a woman!”

“Now, there’s nothing negative about being a woman, is there?”

A Difficult Apology

I was at the mall with my girlfriend as she tried on dresses, and she began complaining about how she needed a size up. I made some comment about how Asians like her are never fat, and told her she must be doing something wrong. The minute I saw her face, I knew how badly I screwed up.

In the next instant, I found myself in a different part of the mall. I should’ve probably mentioned my girlfriend is a bit of a witch and she used her magic to swap me into someone else’s body. Clearly in response to my comments, I was now in the body of an Asian woman who was clearly on the heavier side. It wasn’t the first time I had screwed up, and I was sure a swift apology would get her to use her magic to turn me back to normal. I just needed to get to her.

I tried to get to the store where we had been, but she had already left. I had to go search from store to store. All the while, I had to hear people make comments on my weight (from side whispers to rather rude shouts) and a few racist taunts. I was sure that was part of her spell, but it certainly hurt. After some time, I realized she had probably left the mall, and I’d have to go meet her back at home. I groaned as I realized that meant going cross town on the bus looking like this...ugh, what a day!

The Yoga Class (Part 1)

Ming had joined the early morning outdoor yoga class to help support her friend Keysha. Keysha had been trying to lose weight and tried all sorts of workouts to do so. Ming had been nothing but encouraging, even when Keysha was quite down on herself.

They had been to a dozen or so classes so far, with little to no results for Keysha. She was feeling quite defeatist, but Ming told her it took time. So just like every Wednesday for the past few months, they met outside for some yoga.

About halfway through, a flash of light overcame the field where the class took place. In an instant, every member of the class found themself in the body of a different member of the class.

Ming tried to keep a calm appearance. She could feel the added weight on her body, the fat moving in ways she had never felt before. She was in Keysa’s body, and she was honestly freaking out about it. But the last thing she wanted to do was let Keysha know how disgusted she felt, so she put on the bravest face she could...

Mandatory Happy Hour

It had been a terrible day at work. Nearly everyone in the entire building ended up swapping bodies with someone else in the building due to an experiment gone wrong. Roland found himself in the body of Julie Wong, a woman in the sales department who often gave people like him in creative a hard time. Now that he had her body until the company found a way to fix this, he was sure her nagging would only get worse.

He wanted nothing more than to go home and hide, but HR decided the best way to “boost morale” was to implement a mandatory happy hour after work. Roland was only on his second drink when his vision started to blur and things felt dreamy. He was used to drinking a lot more, but he supposed Julie didn’t drink much at all, if it was affecting him this much. He began to vocally complain aloud to another person from work, who (as it turned out) was actually Julie in the body she had been swapped into. Somehow, after another drink in and several more inhibitions gone, Roland ended up making out with Julie.

Who Is With Me?

In the ancient past before nations existed, tribes roamed the land, often fighting with each other. The latest battle for Berthun’s tribe was brutal. He was sure he was one of the few who survived, and likely the only one to escape. When he arrived back at his village, he was met with skeptiism and confusion.

“I report bad news,” He announced as people began to gather, “I may not appear it, but I am Berthun. The enemy used some sort of magic. We all became women almost instantly. I quickly realized this body was just as strong, just as quick, and just as able as my male one had been. This was not a realization many of my fellow warrior were able to come to. I tried to explain we could still succeed, but the pantic of being a new gender in the midst of battle was too great. Many were killed; many more were captured. I suspect they will arrive here in three days time. Man or woman, it does not matter; we all defend our home. With their magic, man or woman probably doesn’t matter anyway. But we can prepare. If we do not let their magic confuse or distract us, we are sure to defeat them. Who is with me?”

Third Test

View First Test here.
View Second Test here.

It didn’t take long before students were talking about Dr. Wong’s experiment as well. Though the lab may have been restricted, students were resourceful. One frat even decided to declare a unique test for their pledges. The pledges had to sneak into the lab and select one of them to swap. They could be selected by voting, force, or whatever. The pledges were surprised when one of them volunteered, Derek. The swapper (in this case, Derek) would then be hooked up to the machine in order to trade bodies with a pledge at a sorority forced to go through a similar challenge. The final step was to return Derek (now in the body of a sorority pledge) to the frat, where the brothers would now do to his now female body whatever they wanted.

Derek had other plans.

He had plotted with Madison (the sorority pledge he swapped with). They had a plan to fight back right after the swap. As Derek removed the helmet from his now blonde head, he ran. The frat pledges gave chace. While they did catch Derek, and they even began to drag him to the frat house -- a well-timed call in advance meant public safety and the police were waiting. Derek screamed for help, and the boys had to let him go. Derek knew it was a risk to pretend to want to join the frat and risk his safety, but he had to see if the rumors about Dr. Wong’s lab were true (of course they were), and he couldn’t see anyway in on his own. Madison had a similiar longing to be a guy, and the two began dating.

Reform

The process was painless. Dexter had simply stood in one pod while someone outside flipped a switch. In a blink, he founf himself in a nearly identical pod, except now he was in Clara’s body. Now all he needed to do was wait for the doors to open. He began to nervously fiddle with his fingers in anticipation, a anxious habit Clara had when she had this body that he now subconsciously picked up. He’d have to put on a good show when it opened; he needed to act upset or pretend to be angry. After all, being in Clara’s body was supposed to be “punishment,” but the only reason he ever got in broke the law was because he had rumors about the pods, about criminals being swapped into the bodies of braindead women in the hopes that they would reform as a result. For Dexter, it was all just an act. He saw this as an opportunity to become a woman, and he was going to take it. He had succeeded! He was Clara now! As the doors opened, he did his best turn his huge smile into a scowl.

Final Hop

Charles had discovered he was a body hopper in college. For a few hours, he would hop into someone else’s body and experience their life. It was a lot of fun, and he was often able to do many wild or crazy things he wouldn’t otherwise do, or participate in events his own body wouldn’t be able to achieve. He often laughed about the time he swapped into the body of the school’s quarterback and got sacked multiple times.

After getting a terrible car accident at age 35, he felt like he was too young to die. He tried fighting it, but his injuries were just too much. He knew it was the end, and he was resigned to that. His body hopper instincts kicked in, however. In the moment before dying, he hopped into the body of a nurse. He turned back to look at his now former body, to see the EKG flatlining. He tried to hop back to his original body, but it was now no use. It was dead, and this nurse was who he was now.

Morning Jog

Every morning when Brad went on his morning jogs, he’d go hard. He’d push himself to his limits, always trying to beat his previous time on a set path. He’d be so focused that he’d often find himself back at home and realize he’d been running with a sprain or other injury for quite some time.

Today, an odd thing happened when he realized he was suddenly running the wrong way. A little frustrated, he turned himself around and cursed how much time it would add. A little bit longer on his jog, and he couldn’t help but stop. His pecs were feeling strange, like they were puffy or something. Taking a rare breather, he quickly discovered his blue top was now purple. In fact, it wasn’t his top at all. And his pecs weren’t puffy, that wasn’t even his chest! It was the chest of a woman! On his body! As he looked around the park and the mass confusion that seemed to have overtaken everyone, he soon figured out he wasn’t alone in suddenly being in a new body...even if it took him just a little bit longer than most to realize it.

The Merge (Part 1)

Senior year was always an exciting time at the local high school. The kids were becoming adults, creating plans for college, and enjoying their accomplishments. But with a month left in the school year, an unexplained explosion would shock everyone. Technically, no one was hurt, but pairs of students wound up merging into a single individual.

People suspected Melvin of causing the whole thing, but no one had any proof. They just thought he was smart enough to pull it off, and he also won the lottery when it came to who he merged with: Jody, the hottest girl in school. The merger between the two (who insisted on being called “Melody”) wasn’t quite as pretty as the original Jody, as she now had some of Melvin’s nerdy features, but still extremely beautiful. She was just as smart as Melvin, and enjoyed things like Doctor Who and comic books. But she was also still athletic and kept up with cheerleading as Jody had with similar interest in things like fashion and boys. She had some struggles with body issues, as Jody had been known to make fun of Melvin in the past and that had now been internalized.

Experiment Subject #42B

“Excuse me, Dr. Lopez,” Dr. Grant Matheson asked, “Our benefactor is requesting an update on Experiment Subject #42B.”

“There is nothing special to report. Experiment Subject #42B has had a successful transfer with no incident. He is understanbly upset with it, but his vitals are fine.” Jeffrey lied to Dr. Matheson.

Of course, Jeffrey could’t tell the truth because he WAS Experiment Subject #42B. The test had gone wrong and instead of his brain ending up in the mind of a chimp, it ended up in the body of Dr. Lopez. He wasn’t happy about being older or a woman, but both were way better than being an animal! And, of course, he figured with her body he could escape this madhouse testing facility.

But to that, of course, he had to get out of the building. With Dr. Lopez being the one now stuck in the chimp, he was sure the only thing that would stop him was if he slipped up with one of her colleagues. But they all had seemed quite satisfied with his answers, so far, and he could see the exit just behind Dr. Matheson’s shoulder; he was so close to being free.

True Form

The last thing William remembered was a hospital. Doctors and nurses were in a panic, machines were beeping. They were faint figures and the memories were blurred. He remembered driving before as well, and the two sort of juxtaposed together. But he was now in a void, a vast nothingless surrounded him. He felt cold. He had no clothes on, and he also seemed to have a body he didn’t recognize; it was a woman’s body. Time felt like it had no meaning, but time clearly passed.

Eventally, a shadowy figure appeared, sort of like a black blur. It answered the questions William spoke aloud without saying a word.

“Where am I?” He asked before responding with his own answer after looking at the figure, “I’m dead, huh? This is where I await my next life. And what about this body? Whose is it? Mine. My true form. Who I really am. That makes sense, I suppose. My body back on Earth never felt right. Is my next life even on Earth again? If I want it to be. I think I do. I think I’d like a body like this next time. I’d like a body that matches my true form. How many times have I been back and forth? This is only my second time here. People generally take much longer to accept their true form, it seems. Please send me back. I am ready.”

Art Gallery

Ever since he was a young man, Howard enjoyed walking the halls of musueums. They reminded him of his wife, who had passed two years ago. They used to go on many dates seeing the new exhibits and revisiting some great art. He had headed to the museum today because he missed her dearly. Despite having been here countless times, he ended up in a hallway he couldn’t ever remember seeing before. The paintings were tightly crammed on the walls with a sculpture at one end. He didn’t recognize any of the work, and they all seemed to lack name plates. He paused briefly at the sculpture before continuing back to more familiar halls. He didn’t notice the weird glow of the sculpture as he turned to leave.

A few moments later, he found himself back in front of the sculpture. Something about it had changed, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Of course, something about Howard had changed as well. The sculpture’s magic had swapped him into the body of another art patron. No longer the old man he once was, he was now in the body of a young woman. He had an entire second lifetime to explore museums and find love. He’d be doing it from the other side of the gender divide this time, once he realized all this that is...

At the Gym (Part 2)

View Part 1 of At the Gym here.

Chad and Kelly looked for weeks to try to find a way to swap back to their own bodies, but both soon accepted they would be stuck as the other. Kelly gave Chad more instructions about her job, how to put on makeup, and even how to deal with her monthly visitor. She asked if he was still going to the gym; he nodded.

But after those initial weeks, they began to grow apart again, remaining friends but no longer planning sessions about swapping back to normal. In fact, several years would pass before they ran into each other again, coincidentally one again at the gym.

Kelly almost didn’t recognize her own body at first. She was floored and demanded to know what Chad had done to her. She cut him off as he started by talking about how he stopped dying his hair. She wanted to know about the muscles.

He told her he just continued his workout routine, the same one he had always been doing.

Kelly realized she should’ve been much more specific with her instructions. Chad had always been a bit of a musclehead, and he had been treating her body in the same way, resulting in her former bulking up like never would’ve thought possible!

Girls' Night Out

“Come on, Rhea,” Whispered Paul, “I can’t do this. I can’t be you.”

“Yeah, but thanks to that weird machine, you ARE me, and I had a night with my gal pals scheduled, so tha obligation now falls on you,” Rhea insisted.

“They’re never going to believe I’m you. They’re gonna know something’s up.”

“They’re probably already drunk, and have you looked in the mirror? They aren’t going to know anything is up, because we swapped bodies and people trust what they see. Right now, you look like me; they’re never going to see through that. Now go out there, and shake your ass. Make it look like I’m having fun.”

Paul groaned as he met up with Rhea’s friends. They squealed with delight when they saw him, understandably thinking he was Rhea. They handed him a drink and soon he started to dance. He hated to admit it, but he began to have a good time.Rhea’s body moved so much more smoothly than his own. But by the end of the night, he just wanted to find Rhea and figure out swapping back. However, he couldn’t seem to find her anywhere...

Bundled

Alex and Ellen had been dating for three years and had been living together for two of those. And every time fall rolled around, Ellen would bundle up that felt much too earl for Alex. He’d often tease her about being cold, and he also refused to turn the heat up in the apartment when she asked.

And finally she had enough. She loved Alex, so she wasn’t going to leave him; she just wished he understood. Searching the internet, she found a body swap spell that claimed to do just what she hoped. She was skeptical, but she decided to try it out.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Alex complained after spending a week in Ellen’s body, “Can you please reverse the spell now and swap us back into our own bodies?”

Ellen avoided eye contact, “Well, I can’t. The spell is on a timer. We’re stuck in each other’s bodies until spring. But if it makes you feel any better,” She looked back at Alex, thinking about how cute it was that he was in her body and all bundled up, “I’ll be kind and turn the heat up for you, unlike some people I know!”

Do You Want Fries with That?

For three weeks after the Great Shift swapped the bodies of 90% of the people on the planet, Mike tried to listen to Jenna about how to take care of her body now that it was his. The meant specific instructions on exercise and what to eat. But, quite frankly, after a while he just gave up. He was sick of eating brussel sprouts and kale for dinner. He wanted a damn burger or a steak or even just some french fries! Oh, how he missed them! He just broke down at a fast food place and ordered a bunch. Leading scientists had reported the chances of anyone ever going back to their old body were close to zero. For Mike, that meant Jenna’s body was now his, and he was no longer going to let her rules about how to live affect him the way they had. If he wanted to skip exercising, he was allowed now. And if he wantred some damned french fries, well, nothing was going to stop him!

Unremarkable (Part 1)

Neil had always been a pretty unremarkable guy. He didn’t exactly stand out in a crowd. But an odd thing happened to him in his sophomore year at college during the fall semester. He discovered that he could make his hands glow. He kept it quiet for a few weeks, opting not to show anyone.

His silence ended as he talked to his friend Melissa. They had known each other for about a year and were pretty good friends. She was as unremarkable as he was, yet he realized he was developing a bit of a crush. Surely, he could show her his weird ability and impress her?

As he showed her, the light didn’t just stay limited to his hands; they spread to her. There was a quick flash, and Melissa shouted out from Neil’s body, “Oh, my God! You have the ability to swap people’s bodies? This is so weird! Do you have to be involved or can you swap two completely different people!? We have to have some fun with this!”

While Melissa seemed excited, Neil was a little more shocked. His hands didn’t just glow -- they could, in fact, swap the bodies of two people! Melissa ran out to the quad, and Neil followed. Melissa pointed at two people, and Neil began to focus, causing his hands to glow. Despite the fact that he was now in Melissa’s body, he still seemed to have his power. Now he just had to get this right...

366th

The day I got into that taxi was a bad one. I had just been fired from my relatively new job at the firm right after the recession hit. They told me they had to let the “new boy” go first. I felt humiliated and frustrated. I flagged the cab, got in, and noted the smell almost immediately. I was glad to get out of the cab, but the guy did something and we ended up swapping bodies.

I freaked out until I somehow managed to navigate to the driver’s home. That where I found a notebook explaining the magic taxi, the body swapping, and everything. It seemed like a golden opportunity. I could become the richest guy on Wall Street with practically no effort! According to the book, people spent a few days in this driver’s body.

I ended up spending over a year.

It was coincidence, but not one of my fares ended up spending quite long enough to trigger the swap. Being in that smelly body was getting to me. After a few weeks, I abandoned my plan and just picked up anyone in hopes of getting out of the cabbie’s body. I breathed a sigh of relief on the 366th day (I was counting) when the fare was high enough by being just a single cent over. She lived in a poor area of Chinatown and spoke broken English. I knew that life would now be mine, but it was still better than spending another minute in this cab. She got out and I initiated the swap. I probably looked just as scared when I first swapped into the driver’s body. I didn’t care. Now that I was in this woman’s body, I just ran. I wanted to get out of there. I never wanted to see that cab again.

Strange Storm

It was strange because there wasn’t a single drop of rain that day; there hadn’t been a weather report that predicted anything other than sun. Yet the storm that day changed so many lines, mine included. I was on an evening jog when it happened. My wife had been encouraging me to get more exercise since I started gaining weight after turning 40. I figured it was just my male body getting older, but seeing me get in shape made my wife happy, so I did it. I was resting on a bench when it happened. People who saw it said it was like a lighting bolt coming out of nowhere hitting me in the head. And these bolts didn’t just hit me. Estimates ranged from 10 to 15 percent of the population was struck. And after being struck, we all ended up somewhere else, inside a body of someone else who had been struck. I ended up about a mile away, inside the body of a 25-year-old woman I’d learn was named Danielle. I chuckled thinking my wife would probably be happy now that I was no longer overweight, but that she might be less happy about the fact that I was now female. Still, we tried to make it work as best we could.

Scientists could never quite figure out how it worked. They classified it as a “weather phenomenon” and theorized the electrical current was centralized in the atmosphere and never lost that central connection even when multiple bolts his simultaneously. These bolts essentially fried our brains and transmitted the signals up to the central current before being sent back down to a different location. I was never sure if that was even plausible, but there was no way I could deny the results of what happened.

Man Up

It had been two months since the swap and Avery was getting sick of how his wife was acting. Sure, he had been supportive at first; he was panicking to find himself in her body just as much as she was when she found herself in his. But after a week or two, he got used to being Brittany. He was comfortable acting feminine, wearing skirts and dresses, and putting on makeup. On the other hand, Brittany started out not liking everything about being in Avery’s body, and hated it more and more each day. She’d come home from his job, try to squeeze into her old clothes, and cry on Avery’s shoulder. He would just roll his eyes at this; he wished she’d man up to the situation. It kept going. As time passed, she whined about growing facial hair. Avery told her to shave it, but the idea of having to shave her face just made her cry more. He heard sobbing when she used the bathroom, and when she got dressed in the morning. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it.

Miss Ember

Miss Ember crashed through the ceiling of evil Dr. Robotron’s lair. It was at this point, he was usually cowering in fear, but he seemed strangely confident as he looked at the heroine. As quickly as he could, he pulled out a ray gun, but he didn’t have time to fire. With her super speed, Miss Ember rushed over and crushed the ray.

The evil doctor feigned worry, “Oh, no, my ray gun.”

“You’re going away. You’re--” Miss Ember suddenly felt uncharacteristically weak, “Not going...” She soon passed out.

She awoke some time later to see a figure towering over her that looked remarkably like herself. But she soon realized her movements made robotic sounds, she had a metal arm, wires and circuits replaced body parts. She was in Dr. Robotron’s body, and that meant the person towering over her was...“Robotron,” she whispered.

“That’s right!” He crackled with Miss Ember’s voice, “You had no idea that breaking my body swapping ray is EXACTLY what would activate it! And now I’m in your powerful body, and your in my digitally enhanced one! I believe I’ll be taking you to the authorities, just as you had planned to do to me! Oh, who knows the troubles I will get into now? Who knows what fun I will have? You probably should’ve thought twice before rushing into my lair, hmmm?”

Soccer Mom

It was the first soccer game of Raul’s college career. He had gotten a small scholarship to be the first in his family to attend university, and his parents were even in the crowd gathered under cloudy skies. Raul had managed to score the only goal by the time the rains came at around the half (not bad for the college freshman), causing a delay. While they waited, a bolt of lightning struck the field causing a phenomenon that had never been recorded before or since -- a mass body swap. Players, referees, coaches, and fans all found them swapped around. Raul ended up in the body of his own mother! He was now around 40 years old and a woman, but he wasn’t going to let either of those deter him. Once the rains cleared, he insisted on continuing to play. The refs discussed canceling the game completely, but enough players were like Raul and insisted going on. Raul realized the odds were against him. The other team mostly swapped with other players (either on the same team or his) and one now had the body of a professional who was in the stands. Despite this, his team pulled off the win. To the top it off, the only other goal scored after everyone was swapped was Raul, despite now being in the body of his own 40-year-old mother.

Back into College

Jeremy nerviously paced in the parking lot waiting for his mom to get out of work. When she finally did, he walked up and handed her a baggie.

“Eat the mushroom in here,” He said, “I’ll eat the other one, and we’ll be back to normal in no time. Or at least that’s what Dirk said should happen.”

His mom seemed rather annoyed, “We still haven’t talked about how you’re buying body swapping drug mushroom drugs, but before we do this, I think we need to talk about something else.”

“Jees, come on, Mom! I don’t think you want to be stuck in my body any longer than I want to be in yours! So just take it; we’ll talk after.”

“No, young man, we’ll talk now. Word gets around, and I’ve heard what you’ve been doing as me.”

“Come on, you said have fun. It was one guy in a bar one time. I was curious!”

“Jeremy...”

“F

ine. It was Mr. Nelson, the dean. But look at you, I mean me. I work at a Burger Shack! He promised to get you, I mean me, back into college if I, I mean, you, your body, slept with him.”

Jeremy’s mom placed the baggie into her pocket. “In that case,” She said, “Your punishment is that I will be taking your classes for you until you graduate!”

“But that’s two more years!”

Fifth Floor

It was the fifth time today that Eric had sludged down to the basement apartment in the building where he lived. “Did you fix the damn thing yet?” Eric grunted at the petite blond woman feverishly working over a pile of circuits and wires.

“You’ll be the first to know, and I’m sorry again! So sorry!”

Eric scowled. Inside that woman’s body was the crazy old man who caused all this three days ago. He had tested some weird invention that swapped the bodies of everyone in the building. The old man lucked out by swapping with Carol, who lived on the third floor and worked as a marketer. Eric wished he would’ve swapped with her, or maybe with Brad, a guy who was a trainer at the gym and lived on six.

But, no, he swapped with Mrs. Neuman, who live on the fifth floor. She was two decades older than he had been (in her 40s) and overweight. It felt really different to move in a body like this, and he had been stuck like this for three days! He was getting pretty impatient with that old guy in the basement. He didn’t want to stay like this a minute longer!

Getting to Know You

I have to admit that I’ve never been a great father. After my ex-wife and I got divorced, I wasn’t around much. I finally tried to contact my son, Derek, once he got to high school, but he didn’t want much to do with me. To start, the kid was a bit of a dork. He was into gaming and Star Trek and all that. It wasn’t like my own high school, which had been mostly filled with football and drinking behind the bleachers.

It wasn’t until late in his senior year when I developed a plan to try to get to know him better. A buddy had stolen a weird magic spell from an odd shop at the mall. You simply receited some words, and you could transform your own body into any form you chose! It seemed like pure fantasy, but, dammit, it worked! After forging papers showing I was 18 and in district then transforming myself, suddenly there was a new senior girl in school!

I know what you’re thinking. A girl? Me? Yeah, it seems out of character, but remember, my son’s a dork. There was no way he had a girlfriend. How could he resist a pretty girl asking him to prom? It seemed easier to get close to him this way than trying to connect as a bro -- the kid had no interest in watching sports anyway!

And it worked! Derek started telling me everything about school and boring D&D games he played and whatnot. I’d transform into “Gwen,” go to school, and transform back to normal. When prom night came, I transformed into Gwen again, complete with a dress (cheaper than buying). We had a great time. All evening Derek was a perfect gentleman, never coming too close when we danced and only giving me a small peck on the cheek at the end of the night. Considering I was his date, this was the first time I was trankful he wasn’t the type of guy I was in high school. He dropped me off (a few blocks from my actual place), and I went to transform back. The only problem? The spell stopped working! Unless I could figure something else out, I was stuck as Gwen!

The Experiment Begins

Something about this seemed off, but Ted had been subject to all sorts of experimental testing for months. When the door to his cell was mysteriously unlocked one day, he decided to take the opportunity to escape. It felt like forever ago when he had been kidnapped from his home and brought to this strange lab. He had been subjected to uncomfortable probes, jabbed by large needles, and asked to perform impossible tasks. He was never able to see the faces of his captors, and right now, he didn’t care. He saw the unlocked door as a rare instance of carelessness on their part, and simply walked out.

He had no way to know (at least not yet), but the door was intentionally unlocked and this was the final test. Ted’s brain had been placed into a different body, a woman’s body, and his captors were eager to see how he would react with in a real world environment. Of course, to ensure he would escape when given the chance, they had activated a chip they had implanted his brain. He wasn’t aware of his new body yet. The chip made him feel like everything was normal. Once he had gotten a safe distance away, they would seal the lab and disable the chip. Then the observation would begin.

Punishment

“What’s going on here? Why did you kidnap me? Is anyone there?” A very scared Keysha screamed out.

“We didn’t kidnap you,” A voice boomed in Keysha’s head, “Your punishment is over, Mr. Jones.”

“Punishment? What punishment? Who is Mr. Jones? I think you have the wrong person.”

“Not at all. You have spent the last year as Keysha Thompson, a persona created by the state. It was a punishment for your hate crimes. We temporarily erased your own memories to experience life on the other side.”

“Hate crimes? Was this Mr. Jones some sort of white supremacist? But I love being a Black woman? Why would I ever want to go back to being this Mr. Jones guy? He sounds terrible!”

“Computing...” The voice paused, “You do have a choice. You may keep your current body, but you must take back your memories of being George Jones. You cannot run from your actions.”

“Okay! Okay! That! Yes!”

And so George Jones memories rushed into Keysha’s body. He remembered his racism, his hate crime, his trial, and his sentence. Even though he could recalled his time as Keysha as well, George’s history of hate was mostly winning out.

“Oh, God,” He shouted, “No, I want my body back! I don’t want to be this woman! I want MY body!”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Thompson,” The voice replied, “But you have already made your choice. We are done here.”

Former Model

Xavier scowled in Angela’s direction. He didn’t trust her. She claimed she had no idea why they had swapped bodies and that she lost just as much as he did due to the swap. The math just didn’t add up. For starters, he was the one who was now 30 years older and inside of a body in its 50s. Sure, Angela had been a model in her youth, but those gigs were long gone; she had almost no money saved from them. And with no college education and the resume of a former model, any good job prospects for the next few years seemed slim. And she had his body. A young body with a good tech job. He already had a good pile of savings, or at least his body did. She had everything to gain by stealing it. Even if she wasn’t responsible, she had to know more. Maybe she knew how to swap back and just didn’t want to? Whatever it was, he was going to have to figure it out. The last thing he wanted to do was stay in Angela’s body for any longer than he had to.

Into the Game (Epilogue)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.
View Into the Game (Part 2) here.
View Into the Game (Part 3) here.
View Into the Game (Part 4) here.
View Into the Game (Part 5) here.
View Into the Game (Part 6) here.
View Into the Game (Part 7) here.

Once arriving at the graveyard, Martin was able to succesfully cast the spell and return people to the real world. As the spellcaster, he had to stay behind. He was filled with curiosity. What would they do with his lifeless body? It certainly wasn’t dead. Would he be considered in a coma and go to the hospital? Would the group be blamed for what happened to him? He sighed.

“Hey, Old Man, you just going to stand there all day long? We’re going to need to find a new party!” A voice shouted out.

Martin turned around and smiled, “I’m glad you stayed behind with me, Xira. I think I would’ve been sad to lose all of you.”

Xira smiled back. “Truth be told, everything about this is what I’ve always dreamed of. I’ve always wanted to be a woman, first and foremost. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that. And once given that opportunity, I couldn’t give that up--even if it means fighting kobolds for the rest of my life.”

“I’ll fight by your side as long as I am able.”

“Thanks, Martin. You’re a true friend.”

“You too, Xira.”

Into the Game (Part 7)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.
View Into the Game (Part 2) here.
View Into the Game (Part 3) here.
View Into the Game (Part 4) here.
View Into the Game (Part 5) here.
View Into the Game (Part 6) here.

“The dark elf is right,” A low voice spoke out.

Martin was the youngest member of their group, but he always used the same wizard character he had simply named ‘Martin the WIzard.’ As such, his character was the wisest and had the most experience.

“The quest is not the answer. The way home is through the graveyard.” He said.

“How do you know, old man?” Hissed Arthur.

“It was all there. In her words. At the graveyard, I can send you back to the real world.”

“It sounds like you aren’t coming,” Jenny asked.

“I need to cast the spell. I must remain.”

“Let me cast it!” Jason offered.

“You are not a magic user. The dark elf is too novice. I’m afraid I’m the only choice.”

Into the Game (Part 6)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.
View Into the Game (Part 2) here.
View Into the Game (Part 3) here.
View Into the Game (Part 4) here.
View Into the Game (Part 5) here.

“I don’t know this character’s abilities. I created her almost at random when my previous character died right before we entered this world and assumed the form of our characters.” Matthew stated, “I hadn’t even written a name. She’s a novice, a newb. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t quite done, I can still sort of feel myself at Kevin’s table. It’s like I’m both there AND here. We’re lifeless.”

“I don’t feel any of that,” Althea stated.

“No, you do. You just don’t know you do. You know the answer is not on the quest.” Matthew paused. His body seemed to space out for a moment, seemingly disconnected to the world. He resumed, “I have no solution, though. No hope. It’s darkness and depair. I am a woman with no identity. I am a mage with no magic.”

While Jason had Althea woried, Matthew had her downright scared.

Into the Game (Part 5)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.
View Into the Game (Part 2) here.
View Into the Game (Part 3) here.
View Into the Game (Part 4) here.

“I hate to say it, but he may be right,” Althea said.

“She,” Jason corrected.

“What?”

“I am Xira right now, and Xira is a she.”

Althea was worried Jason was getting weirdly into the game. She felt a weird tingle inside her that was trying to tell her something. Her character was mostly human, but was also 1/8 dragon, giving her a few clearly non-human traits (such as her yellow eyes) and the ability to sense things. Was it trying to tell her something about Jason? Or was there danger nearby?

“You feel it, too, don’t you?” Matthew interjected rather suddenly.

Into the Game (Part 4)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.
View Into the Game (Part 2) here.
View Into the Game (Part 3) here.

Much like Arthur, Jason had also selected a female character (a female warrior elf, to be specific). But unlike Arthur, Jason created characters he actually wished he could be. He had never told any of his friends about his secret desire to be a woman, and (truth be told) he was absolutely thrilled that he now had the body of “Xira” (the elf he had created). Seeing as how the rest of his friends seemed to be in a panic about being stuck in their characters’ bodies, he assessed that now wasn’t a good time to tell them either. It probably helped that he made his character rather stoic and logical in nature.

He added to his initial disgust, “This is no time for your lust, Devra. Even if this isn’t the master’s world, our best hope is to continue on our quest.”

“Did you just call Arthur, ‘Devra?’” Althea asked.

“I did, Jerica,” Jason replied referring to Althea by her character’s name as well.

“Stop being weird, Jason” Althea sighed.

Into the Game (Part 3)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.
View Into the Game (Part 2) here.

Much like Jenny, Arthur had regrets about the character he had created. He tended to make characters he could fantasize about, and “Devra” had been no exception to this rule. He had designed Devra as a seductive thief, and he now could feel both her bloodlust and her hyper libido that he had given her. Perhaps the only thing containing both from exploding were his scars that his character obtained in a battle right before everyone literally became their own characters. They were more painful than he could imagine.

A thought dawned on him. Since his subclass allowed him to learn a few spells, he tried to heal himself and was amazed as the scars went away.

“Holy shit!” He exclaimed, “Not only are we are our characters, but the magic is now real.” He quickly put on a seductive grin, giving a noted glance over in Jason’s direction, “If anyone wants to celebrate.”

“Ew, no!” Jason quickly responded.

Into the Game (Part 2)

View Into the Game (Part 1) here.

Jenny grunted at Kevin’s response. One thing she wanted was out of this game as soon as possible. Back in the real world, she knew the guys in their D&D group had a crush on her. While she considered herself pretty average in the looks department, the fact that she played these types of games made her into a goddess amongst other players. As such, she tried to pick characters that fought againt this perception.

In hindsight, picking a smelly ol’ male orc as her character was a terrible decision. She was easily the strongest in the party, and she realized she could probably flatten Kevin into a pancake if she wanted to. She obviously wouldn’t, but it the one thing that felt good about this being stuck like this right now was knowing she could. Plus, she also tried to subvert perceptions by having her orc be a pacifist cleric, resorting to violence only when necessary. Crushing Kevin would simply be out of character. She wasn’t quite so sure about Arthur though.

Into the Game (Part 1)

Kevin could certainly recognize the six figures that stood before him. They all looked exactly as they had described when his friends had created the characters. It was supposed to be a simple game of Dungeons and Dragons, but the group could’ve never anticipated being sucked into the game to play as the various characters.

Kevin was the obvious exception. He had been the Dungeon Master, so he had no need to create a character. While he was still sucked into the game with the others, his appearance had not changed.

“Is everyone okay?” He asked before adding.

“Do you want us to roll some dice to find out?” Arthur asked sarcastically.

“Well, aside from the obvious,” Kevin added.

“Oh, we’re just peachy,” Jenny quipped, “Can you give us any guidance?”

“We’re not in my living room anymore,” Kevin flatly stated, “I can try, but I’m not sure this even resembles the game I had planned. Also, just compared to the rest of you, well, I doubt this is a +10 cardigan or anything, but I’ll try to help as much as I can.”

Second Test

View First Test here.

Word of Dr. Wong’s experiment leaked among a few in the faculty. Many people dismissed it as pure science fiction. Professor Austin MacDuff saw an opportunity to solve a problem of his own making. He had been sleeping with one of his students; she was not only ready to call it off, but expose his actions to the entire university. He convince her to meet him one last time, picking Dr. Wong’s lab as the location. He intentionally fumbled his words and told her to put on the helmet, explaining that it would allow his thoughts and emotions to transmit directly to her so she could understand how much she meant to him. After she did so, he pulled the level.

Within an instant, Austin was inside the body of his own student. It’s not like he wanted to be a 20-year-old or a woman or a student again, but he felt like he had no choice. If she tried to expose him now, she would only be hurting her own body. He’d be completely in the clear as long as he had her body. She was obviously more angry than ever at Austin, but there was little she could do, as Dr. Wong’s experiment currently only worked one time for each person it was used on.

On the Inside

I had been struggling quite a bit since the Great Shift struck. I was attending classes at the local college when it happened, and I suddenly went from being a 20-year-old guy to being inside one of the teachers, an almost 40-year-old woman. Just about everything about adapting to my new body made me miserable. I wore her professional skirt suits and high heels. I put on her makeup each day. I even tried going on dates with men because I was told my supposed “biological clock” was ticking. Trying to be that woman I was on the outside was difficult.

Then I was visiting home and saw my sister Tabitha. She was now in the body of one of our neighbors, a man in his late 20s. She didn’t put up any sort of fascade about it. She still acted like the little girl she was. When it was time for her dance recital, she still wore a girl’s tutu.

I began to rethink my strategy. I was no longer going to act like the body I had, but instead be the person I am. I started to wear a lot more baggy sweats and hoodies. Yeah, I still had to wear a bra under it, but nothing stopped me from putting on boxer shorts. I spent my free time playing video games. I even started dating women again. It was ultimately much easier to be who I felt on the inside than who I appeared as on the outside. And I had my little sister to thank for getting me to believe that.

A Life Story

Ever since that one day 40 years ago, Daniel had regretted going into that weird store in the mall. Amber, his date, had wanted to avoid it, but he felt compelled and talked her into it. The old man working the register gave Daniel a small compact mirror for doing makeup, which felt odd since Daniel was a guy and didn’t wear makeup. He tried giving it back, saying he didn’t want to pay for it, but the old man insisted it was no charge and that he absolutely must take it for himself and himself alone. He shrugged.

Almost immediately after leaving, he decided to give the compact to Amber. As soon as she touched it, she frozen in place becoming a lifeless husk with a pink mist floating into the compact. Daniel panicked and touched her arm, causing a similar mist to whaff from his body to hers. His own body now went limp as he was in control of Amber now.

Every day, he kept the compact with him, hoping he’d be able to somehow give Amber her life back. Even as the years passed with Amber’s body getting wrinkles and her hair turning gray, he’d often speak to the compact, believing Amber to be inside and make a promise to find a way while living the best possible life as her she could imagine. And one day as he did this, finally the mist returned. But instead of returning to Amber’s body, it seemed to eminate up into the air, into nothing. Daniel considered it an affirmation, as if being told he had done a good job being Amber and to continue the rest of this life just as well.

Lost

When a young girl got lost in the woods, Benjamin joined a search party to look for her. The entire team split into groups of four to systematically search, and Benjamin was grouped with Elle, Grant, and Maddy to explore a section. They didn’t have any luck finding the girl, but they did come across a strange clearing that had an oddly magical feel to it. As they paused there to plan how best to continue the search, a demon appeared. They didn’t have time to ask about the missing girl or run away, as the demon instantly froze them all in place. He cackled as he explained what he would do to them.

“Many have come into my home,” He said, “But they never leave at the same time or the same who as they were when they arrived. You won’t remember me or this clearing. Everything will be unfamilar, and you will have no idea why.” And with those words, the group passed out.

Benjamin could no longer remember entering the forest, but he now found himself stumbling out of it. A man approached him and addressed him, “Oh, Liz, that goodness you’re okay! Your husband and I have been worried! You said you were just going to go for a quick walk, but you’ve been gone for hours.”

“Liz? Husband? I’m not--” Ben asked before looking down and seeing a feminine body beneath a sweater he now wore. He didn’t want to seem crazy. He had to pretend to be the woman he appeared to be, so he corrected himself, “Yeah, I’m sorry. Guess I just lost track of time. It’s just sort of magical in that forest.”