CTO

It was the first day of Travis’s internship when a pulse reverberated through the office, causing everyone inside the building to swap bodies. He barely knew anyone’s names and didn’t know who anyone was. All he knew was that he was now in the body of a middle aged woman wearing a nice pantsuit. It didn’t take long for someone to come along talking about how the swap was the result of the bug, and that they needed some help to fix it.

Travis quickly regretted offering up that fact that he was an intern, despite what his body may look like now -- which turns out, belonged to the CTO. He was sent to the basement to look for some files that could help.

The heels on his feet pinched and hurt as he stood looking through files. Bending over to pick up a box would cause a pain in his back. Even with this body’s glasses (which kept slipping off), the words still often looked blurry. He hated being in the body of an older person; he hated being in the body of a woman. He should’ve lied to the person who came by. He certainly shouldn’t have volunteered that he was an intern. They would have never known! And he wouldn’t have been stuck digging through old files in the basement!

Fast Learner

Cameron crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Emily with a look of impatience and frustration. “What do you mean by ‘You can’t undo this?’” He asked.

“Look around you.” She explained, “The power on every single computer is out. There was a surge or something. I think that’s why the program swapped our brains in the first place. But without a computer, I can’t fix this!”

“I was just here to print out my paper for English class, and now I’m stuck in your girlie computer nerd body! I have to go to football practice in an hour! They’ll crush me like this!”

“I’ll do your footballing for you, and then we’ll figure this out. I primise.”

“Footballing?” Cameron sighed, “They’re going to crush you too, even if you do have my body. You know nothing about the game!”

“But I AM a genius! And a fast learner! Seriously, tell me everything I need to know in the next hour, and I’m sure I’ll do okay.”

“Fine,” Cameron groaned, uncomfortably adjusting the dress he now wore as he sat down.

Goblin Princess (Part 1)

Ever since its release, Ryan had been playing a lot of the new RPG video game that the internet was buzzing about. It was immersive and a little addictive. He often found himself wishing he could live in such a magical land, and one night he made this wish while falling asleep as he played the game.

When he awoke, he was shocked to not be next to his computer. In fact, he seemed to be in a land with little to no modern technology at all. It looked strangely familiar -- exactly like the world within the game. It seemed like a dream come true, but he soon found it was more like a nightmare.

As he began to accept the fantasy world around him, he began to come to terms with his new body. It seems like he didn’t end up as the main adventurer; he didn’t even find himself in the body of one of the companions. He was an NPC, and he recognized her from his early play-throughs.

She was a villain from one of the first quests. Calling herself “Princess of the Goblins,” she was technically only half goblin (with many human features along with her goblin-like ears and teeth). She spoke with an obnoxious and shrill voice. On Ryan’s playthrough, he had killed her almost instantly after she opened her mouth. Ryan now was this character, and he paced around the castle waiting.

Sure enough, when Ryan saw an adventurer approach, he was urged to shout out the one line he had heard the NPC speak before he had killed her. He didn’t want to say it, but he couldn’t help himself.

“HELLO, FUTURE HUSBAND!” He screached at the stranger.

Ryan hoped this obnoxious behavior wouldn’t cause him to get a sword straight through the chest in the way he had done when he encountered this character.

Home Repairs

Zach had been doing repairs around the house and was getting quite tired of his wife nagging him about being careful. But as he fell off the ladder, he only had time to think about how he should have listened to her more carefully before crashing down to the ground.

He wasn’t sure how long he was knocked out, but his head was throbbing. Nothing felt broken, but nothing felt right either. The first thing he noticed was the man that now stood above him.

The man spoke, “I know you want to help, Ximora, but I’ve told you that you don’t need to. I’ve got this.”

Zach’s head pounded as he realized that Ximora was his name, and that this man standing here was his -- no wait, her -- her husband. She was struggling to remember the details of her life while also trying to forget that she had ever been Zach.

After a few moments, she finally spoke as she stood, “I’m...not...a...man.”

Her husband slapped her butt. “I should hope not. Do you feel okay?”

Part of Ximora wanted to be outraged by that slap but a larger part seemed to like it. She smiled, “I just...need some rest. I’ll be inside on the couch while I let my big, strong husband take care of things out here.”

Compatible Donor

Brad looked down at the person in the hospital bed with a sense of trepidation. He turned to the doctor and spoke, “She’s older than I would’ve expected. And I’m still not wild about the fact that it’s a woman.”

Doctor Schwartz looked Brad right in the eyes, “We don’t exactly have a wide variety of brain dead patients. There are even fewer who have relatives to sign off on experimental procedures. And she is literally the only one who is a compatible donor.”

“I understand. It’s just weird. To think that I’ll go into surgery as myself, and yet wake up...as her. I’m just not sure I’m ready.”

“You know if you pull out, you’ll likely be dead in a week. And even if you merely hesitate, there’s no guarantee her body will stay alive in the state it is in. We need to act now to save your life.”

“I know. I know. I thank you. I thank you for showing me. I needed to see beforehand. I needed to know. But I’m ready now. When I wake up. I will be her. I will be Maria Cuervas. That will be my body. It’s still weird, but I don’t have a choice.”

Becoming a Hero (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Becoming a Hero.

There was just one small problem: Matthew couldn’t figure out how to turn back into himself! By the time he returned home, the alien was long gone. He was happy to be a superhero, but it seemed he was going to be stuck as a woman now for good.

He adopted the name Mattea, forged some documents, and tried to be as unassuming as possible. He took a job at a library and blended into the woodwork.

For a while, he donned his superhero persona every night, but he often resorted to going after petty thieves and minor criminals. After stopping a deadly monster attack, it all felt like sort of alet down. And, so, as time passed, the superhero persona came out less and less. He still had all the strength and powers, but he just didn’t use them. For the most part,he was just Mattea now.

Please!

It took only a moment after the Great Shift for Trent to realize something was wrong. He was still in the supermarket, but now he was in a completely different aisle. The changes to his body were even more obvious, and he wanted none of it.

He rushed as quickly as he could back to the aisle he had been in. It wasn’t easy due to the fact that he now had heels on his feet. He had tears in his eyes as he got down on his knees to beg.“Please! I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but give me my body back! Please!” He pleaded.

“I...I don’t know how,” His own body stammered, “This isn’t my fault! I didn’t do this. I think...I think we may be stuck like this.”

“No. I can’t. I can’t be stuck like this. I can’t be a woman! No way! Please!”

At the Shop (Part 2)

View Part 1 of At the Shop.

Theo eventually found the source of the screams, a young woman in a wedding dress, who quickly explained (of course) that she wasn’t a woman.

“My name’s Aaron.” The woman explained, “With an A...like the guy’s name. Not Erin. I need to find my body! I need to get out of here.”

“No,” Theo replied, “You need to find the outfit that woman came in here wearing. If we swapped bodies, we probably aren’t the only ones. It’s going to be chaos out there; the last thing you want to be stuck wearing as all this is figured out is some sort of uncomfortable wedding gown. This seems to be some sort of dress shop, so she was probably just trying it on or getting it fitted. She’s got to have more reasonable clothes around here somewhere.”

“I guess...I guess you are right,” Aaron replied, “Are you some sort of wise, old Asian lady here to guide me through all this?”

“I’m swapped into this body just like you’re swapped into that one. I’m not really old or Asian. Plus, that expectation seemed...well...sorta racist? Don’t you think?”

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Elliot couldn’t even react after watching Julie tear up her plane ticket and leave the airport. He had swapped bodies with Julie when they first arrived on Exchange Island. While he knew that new experiences were the entire premise of the resort, he still found being stuck in a woman’s body far more challenging than he anticipated. He had brefriended Julie a few days into the trip, and she seemed to be struggling just as much with his body.

However, it was all over now. They were the airport. They were supposed to get on that plane, swap back, and fly home. But if she wasn’t there, what would happen? Would they not allow him on the plane? Would they force her back here? What if they allowed him to leave, and he ended up stuck in her body? And, of course, he wondered why she ripped up her ticket and left in the first place. Had she just pretended to be unhappy? He didn’t want to be stuck in Julie’s body -- not here on Exchange Island and not back home. But what was he going to do now if she wouldn’t leave?

Only One Way to Find Out

After a night filled with what seemed like impossible events and a long walk home in shoes more uncomfortable than Joel could have ever imagined, he was finally home. However, when he walked in that door, how was he going to even begin to explain this to his wife? That he was had swapped bodies at a bar with a beautiful woman? Despite the fact that it was true, it didn’t seem at all believable.

But then again, maybe the body swapping chaos wasn’t limited to the bar? What if everyone in town had swapped bodies with someone else? What if it was everyone in the world? That would mean his wife might not even be home. Or if she was, she could be in a completely different body as well. Or her body could be in there but with someone else inside.

Joel thought to check his cell phone again. They had all cut out right when everyone swapped, and it still seemed to not be getting any signal. It seemed there was only going to be one way to figure out any more information, and that was by going in.

A Murder in the Library

“How can you read at a time like this, Tiff?” Malcolm, a flustered football player stuck in the body of an elderly librarian asked.

“First of all, I’m not Tiffany any more than you are Mrs. Porter,” George replied, “Everyone in this library had swapped bodies with soemone else in here. I may be in Tiffany’s popular body, but I’m George, the nerdy bookworm that you were making fun of less than an hour ago. And since we are in a library and the doors seemed to be magically sealed, it stands to reason that the answers we need to get out of this mess is in a book. I don’t have a lot of theories to go off of at this point.”

“He may be right,” Mrs. Porter spoke from Malcolm’s body, “There were rumors about a demon in this library. I didn’t take them seriously until, well, until this whole body swapping thing happened. I may know where there are some books we could reference. Come help me with them.”

“We should all go together,” George said, “There is certainly someone or something killing people, and if this demon is real, we shoudln’t go off alone.”

Mrs. Porter seemed somewhat frustrated by George’s logic, yet she still agreed to go as a group...

Sales (Part 1)

As Scott picked himself up off the floor, it only took him a moment to figure out what had happened; he had swapped bodies with his co-worker, Brigit. He couldn’t imagine a worse person to swap bodies with. Even though they shared an office, the two were always at odds. They were both salespeople and often competed over promotions and accounts. It also didn’t help that they just didn’t like each other. Brigit thought Scott was obnoxious and a male chauvinist. Scott though Brigit was fake, and was pretty sure she had plenty of plastic surgery -- often noting how her lips looked full of collagen.

But now, because of the body swap, they’d have to work together. They’d be closing each other sales and getting credit for each other’s work. However, the thought was also forming in both of their heads that this might be the perfect opportunity for some sabotage.

Back in Time (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Back in Time.

The good I had done for the village began to spread through the kingdom. It wasn’t long before the king himself came to visit our village. He seemed genuinely impressed by the accomplishments, and quite a bit taken aback by my race and gender. He requested my help for improvements throughout the kingdom. While he spoke of caring for his people, I suspected he simply realized that serfs who were sick all the time didn’t make for good workers in the fields.

As time passed, I was informed that a prince had informed the king of his intention to marry me. Being left out of the conversation made me feel more lke an object than a person, but I also recognized becoming a princess might be one of the better outcomes of this situation. The controvery swirled around my “bloodline,” but the prince argued that with the burgeoning exploration to the east that my presence in the royal family could be seen as good for trade relations. And so I became a princess while still continuing to give advice to the king on improvements to the people’s well being.

The Farmhouse (Part 3)

View Part 1 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 2 of The Farmhouse.

View Part 2 of The Farmhouse.

The days passed and I was starting to get nervous. I had hoped Mom would’ve fixed the wiring that day, but that didn’t happen due to a part. It was a foreign piece that they didn’t carry in the hardware store out here. We had to order it online, and wait for it to arrive from overseas.

As we waited, I became more and more worried that I’d be stuck in the body of my own mother forever. But it was was worse than that. There were actually parts of being her that I actually started to enjoy! I certainly didn’t like being older, that’s for sure. But being a woman was actually starting to excite me! I was very curious about exploring my feminine body, and the only thing that stopped me was the fact that I couldn’t get out of my head that it was my mother’s!

As I arrived down to the kitchen on the fifth day, my mom asked why I was wearing a skirt. I told her it felt right (which it did!). And then she shared the good news; the machine was fixed. We could swap back! But I was already thinking about how I would use it after that to swap with someone else!

Leave Me Alone

Cheng wasn’t upset about the body she ended up with as a result of the Great Shift. She was still a woman, a few years younger, and a little bit prettier. There was only one problem; the person who ended up with her body.

He was a surly man named Mike from her company’s IT department. He had always been surly, and his disposition didn’t improve now that he had Cheng’s body. She felt it was a bad look, and decided to approach him about it.

“Hey, would you like some advice?” She asked while passing by his desk one day.

“No,” Mike replied.

“Well,” She continued, ignoring his response, “That body used to be mine, and I could give you some makeup to look years younger. I could let you borrow some clothes, too! It doesn’t hurt to dress up for work, you know?”

“I am dressed up. This shirt has a collar.”

“I mean, like, dressed up for a woman.”

Mike rolled his eyes, “I get this was your body before, but it’s not anymore. Whether I like it or not, it’s mine now. You don’t get to tell me how to dress or how to act anymore than the prissy little white lady who used to have the body you have now gets to tell you what to do. And if she did, I’m sure she’d tell you to leave me alone. Go away.”

Shock

It felt truly terrifying for Noah to go from walking back to his car inside the parking garage to instantly be driving one. His foot instantly slammed on the brakes, but it didn’t even yet occur to him that foot was wearing a three inch wedge sandal. He was still in too much of a state of shock about the car to notice a single thing about his new body.

Despite safely stopping himself, he still stumbled out of the vehicle to see a few cars weren’t nearly so safe. There were more than a few accidents in the garage and even a bit of blood. He reached for the cell phone in his pocket only to find it wasn’t there. His jeans were far too tight and the pockets were far too small to even fit a cell phone.

It was just starting to register in his head that he hadn’t just magicly teleported to a new place; he was now inside a new body -- a woman’s body. It quickly became obvious that he wasn’t the only one either.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on his new body for long. He suddenly heard a baby crying. As much as he wanted to worry about his own situation, there was a part of him that just couldn’t ignore it. So despite his curiosity and the wedge sandals on his feet, he sprang to action to help.

Haunted House (Part 1)

The tales of the abandon house in our hometown used to beckon us as kids, but we were never brave enough. Coming back shortly after college, the four of us -- Anna, Conor, Erika, and I -- decided it was a good idea to finally explore the place. It wasn’t long before we figured out that was a big mistake.

We all got separated from each other pretty quickly. I was pretty thankful to find Anna quickly, and we went looking for the others together. We were both terrified to find Erika in a room in the basement; she seemed to be strapped to a chair.

“Thank you so much!” She said, “I think there’s a button in the back that releases the straps! Hit it, and let’s get out of here. There’s this weird guy and he knocked me out and tied me up like this.”

“Well, we still need to find Conor,” Anna responded.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Erika’s body said, “I am Conor. What’s wrong with you guys?”

Anna managed to release the straps and pulled out a mirror from her purse, handing it to what looked like Erika (but was apparently actually Conor).

“What the fuck?” Conor exclaimed, “This can’t be happening! That weird guy must have somehow swapped our brains! I can’t believe I’m in Erika’s fucking body!”

Pig Sty

“Oh...my...God...Seth...” Was all Audrey could say when she met with him two days after they had swapped bodies.

“What?” Seth protested in response, “I’ve done everything you instructed. I’ve been going to all your classes -- being a women’s studies major really does make you feel bad about being a guy, by the way --, I’ve been doing your hair and makeup, I’ve even picked outfits that are cute but not too slutty! It’s everything you asked!”

“And I’m impressed with all that, actually! It’s just that,” She sighed, “You’ve been living in my place for only two days and you’ve already turned it into a pig sty. Guys are so gross! And I still can’t believe one is stuck in my body.”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess I hadn’t noticed. But if it makes you feel better, your body is clean. I used body wash and applied lotion and everything! Like I said, I didn’t want to misstep, so I’ve been doing everything you asked...I guess I just didn’t think of something obvious that you didn’t mention.”

Dentist's Office (Part 1)

After some severe pains in his mouth, Hector’s dentist explained that he was going to need to get his wisdom teeth removed. They were putting him under with gas, and the alst thing he saw was his dentist’s face. Dr. Tanaka was a sweet middle aged Asian woman, always very friendly. Seeing her smile as he drifted off gave him comfort.

He awoke suddenly, standing on his feet in a surprisingly lucid state. He expected the knockout gas to make him dreary, but he felt fine -- until he looked in the mirror as saw Dr. Tanaka’s face looking back at him. His own body was still passed out on the chair with gauze and blood in its mouth. Hector wondered if he was still under, and if this was a hallucination. He pinched and proded the female body he presently had in an effort to wake up.

Fianlly, he decided to try to wake up his former body. It seemed just as much in shock as he was, but because of the gas, the gauze, and the novocane, there was only a bunch of incoherent mumbles.

Hector put his hand on his own arm as a gesture of comfort, “I know. I’m scared too. I don’t know how this happened. One minute, I’m passed out in this chair, and the next...I’m you! If you can just sort of gesture how to do everything properly, I think I can figure it out.”

A Totally Radical Change

On a brisk fall day in 1983, Scott was walking through the mall when he stumbled across a strange old shop he had never seen before. The neon sign read “Spells ‘r Us,” and the only person working seemed to be a strange old man.

The old man began to describe some items to Scott, who was soon distracted by some young woman walking by outside the store. “Your curious what it would be like, aren’t you?” The old man asked.

Somehow Scott knew exactly what he meant. “Yeah,” He confessed.

“Well, you are in luck, as turning men into women is just my specialty,” The old man said, being unnaturally honest, “But I can see the hesitation in your eyes. Tell you what -- How about you put down a $50 deposit, and you can try out a woman’s body for 24 hours. If you don’t like it, come back tomorrow to get your money back and be transformed back into your old male self.”

Scott slapped down the money and was instantly transformed. He had an absolutely fantastic time as a woman the rest of the day, chatting with other women, trying on clothes at stores, an even buying one outfit to wear the next day.

But when he woke up the next morning, he had a bit of regret, realizing he wanted his old body and life back. As he drove back to the mall, things seemed strange and different. The parking lot was empty and many of the stores had suddenly shuttered overnight. One of the few teenagers lingering in the mall gave Scott a sneer as they passed each other. “The 80s called, they want their trends back,” The teen shouted.

Luckily, Spells ‘r Us was still there. Scott approached the old man and said, “I’d like my deposit back, please. And my body back.”

The old man squinted, “Who are -- oh! Now I recognize you! My dear, you are over 40 years too late! You needed to come back in the next day for any returns. There’s nothing I can do, I’m afraid.”

Faith

I don’t think I had been in a church since I was a kid. I certainly remember going with my parents and often praying to God to ask that He make me a woman. I remember thinking that if I just prayed hard enough, it would actually happen. As time passed, I felt like my prayers would never be answered; that God made a mistake when he made me by placing me in a man’s body instead of a woman’s.

It would be many years before the Great Shift finally happened, and it seemed my prayers were finally answered.

I immediately returned to the church and got down on my knees to say ‘thank you.’ I expected more people to be there -- either out of gratefulness (like me) or else fear. I imagine the Great Shift was terrifying for many. But for me? Well, I ended up in a body that truly felt right. I still had my doubts on the existance of God, but after all those years of pleading and praying, it did seem like this was truly a response. And a moment of faith just seemed appropriate.

Burnt

It took several hours for the fire trucks to put out the blaze, and several more days before the police removed the barriers after concluding their investigation. The site was a burnt out mess with several nearby buildings affected. Jason stood in the spot where the body swapping machine once was, but little remained except for a few larger metal pieces.

“It’s gone, Heather,” He sighed.

“But maybe we can reconstruct the burnt pieces? Or figure out how to rebuild anything missing?” Heather replied.

“I doubt it. There’s not much here to go off of. When the machine started sparking while we were inside, we both barely got out with our lives...or I guess we got out with each other’s lives. But Dr. Greenberg? Instead of running out with us, he was trying to put out the fire. The body swapper was his life’s work. We haven’t heard from him. I fear the worst.”

Heather began to cry. They were only supposed to test out Dr. Greenberg’s body swapper and be in each other’s body for fifteen minutes. Now as she looked as Jason inside of her body, she knew they were going to be stuck as each other for the rest of their lives.

First Semester (Part 3)

View Part 1 of First Semester.
View Part 2 of First Semester.

Josh returned to campus and found some friends playing Ultimate Frisbee, and he soon joined in. With just about everyone from the freshman in someone else’s body, no one made a big deal about the fact that he was now Ms. Wen.

That is, until Ms. Wen walked by with Josh’s body.

He actually gave a friendly wave when he saw her, but she responded with a stern look before sighing and saying, “Josh, may I see you over here for a second?”

Josh walked over and asked, “What’s up?”

“Do you understand the point of Swap Class, Josh? The point is not to run around campus as you normally would. The point is to understand the world from someone else’s perspective. Now, with that in mind, do you imagine that I would be running around playing sports on campus while wearing my daughter’s clothes?”

Josh felt a little embarrassed he picked clothes out of the wrong closet. “Your daughter?”

“Don’t worry. She’s around your age and off to college herself. You won’t find yourself in any awkward family situations. But do please go back to my house and change into something you might actually expect a professor at this university would wear, and do your best to act like one as well!”

Secretary

When Hitomi finally returned to her desk, Brad sprung to his feet. “Have you found anything out yet?” He asked, “Was there any talk about testing something experimental in the research wing that could have caused us to swap bodies like this?”

Hitomi shrugged, “Nothing, Mr. Collins. But you know how you said yesterday that I’m cute when I’m angry? I think you may be right!”

“Look, I’m sorry about that, but this is serious. We can’t live as each other. Do you think you can even begin to do my job?”

Hitomi shrugged again, “I’ve been doing it fine for the past couple hours. Maybe your just nervous because you’re the one stuck in the body of a secretary now? Or maybe the thought of a secretary’s salary is what scares you? Or is that you’ve already experienced sexual harassment as a woman in the past few hours that I have to endure every day in this misogynistic hellhole? Maybe you’re worried about being a woman in general? Well, I hope you’re getting used to those heels, because there’s no way we’re switching back!”

Perspective

A few days ago, an accident on campus caused him to swap bodies with his girlfriend, Amanda. The hope was that they’d be able to swap back in a few days.

While Ron had spent a lot of time with Amanda in the days right after the swap, he decided to head to the local bar one night alone. While Ron had just turned 21, Amanda was a few weeks younger, so he scoured around her room before finding her fake ID.

Once he got inside, he saw a sight that he never expected to see, at least not from this perspective. There was his body in the corner making out with some chick! Amanda was cheating on him -- with a woman and while she was in his body!

Ron couldn’t even feel angry at first. He just stood there with a confused expression on his face. How could she do this to him? Why would she do this to him?

Investigation (Part 1)

“Don’t worry, Sarah, we are taking the utmost care in this case and investigating to the fullest. I am the department’s lead investigator when it comes to criminal sexual harassment. As such, I will be going into your office undercover as you for the next few days. Obviously, you will be staying at home as I conduct my investigation,” Detective Alvin Ross explained to the young woman.

“What will happen if nothing happens? What if he can tell you’re not me? It’s so weird looking at a copy of myself; is it weird for you?” Sarah seemed to have a million questions.

“If your boss is as bad as you say he is, this shouldn’t take more than a day or two. And they never know something is up...or, at least, they never figure it out until it’s too late. And, lastly, don’t worry about me. This is just my job; it’s all professional to me.”

Layoffs

“I’m afraid this is never easy, but we’re going to have to let you go. You just aren’t achieving the goals we’ve set up for software developers.”

Mary protested, “But YOU’RE the software developer. Of course I don’t know anything about doing that job! I’m the head of HR. We all swapped bodies in that accident, and -- ”

“And most of us adapted by embracing the bodies we ened up in,” Andre replied, “And I have been killing it in your role as head of HR. You in my body and working as a software developer? Not so much. We’ll be offering you a comprehensive severance package, but we’ll have to escort you out once this meeting is over.”

“But how will I get my body back once the company figured out how -- ”

“Please understand that it is is considered property of the company now. We are only obliged to leave you with A body. You should’ve read your offer letter more carefully.”

Breakdown (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Breakdown.

“I got it while I was in town,” Jim explained, “They’re practical!”

“They’re practually hideous!” Ami interjected, “If my Instagram followers saw me looking like that...And, speaking of which, where did you get them?”

“You know I went to town. I stopped at the WalMart.”

Ami held back a dry heave, “Seriously?”

“It’s where I bought the parts for your car, too. No one was talking about nothing strange or unusual either, so whatever this body swapping stuff that affected us...we seem to be the only ones. I should still be able to fix your car though.”

“Thanks. Could you try not to get my hands too dirty?”

“Try not to...get your hands dirty?” Jim asked in confusion, “I’m gonna be working on your car. My hands ae gonna get dirty!”

“MY hands,” Ami reminded him, “You may be in control of my body right now, but those are still MY hands.”

“Naw, I get it. I’m just telling you there’s not much I can do about it. And if we aren’t able to swap back, all this talk about dirty hands and not liking each other’s clothes are gonna seem like small taters.”

Ami hated to admit it, but she knew Jim was right.

The Slip

Curtis had a pounding headache that kept getting more and more intense until he simply passed out. As he woke up, he still felt the pounding in his head. It was so bad that it was hard for him to focus. The first thing he noticed was the indoor pool and scenic views; it was a far cry from his studio apartment in the city.

For a moment, he thought he wasn’t wearing any clothes, but it seems he was mistaken. It was just that he was wearing a bikini -- and seemed to be filling it out rather nicely! He was -- a woman? It didn’t make any sense.

Then a male voice called out, “Oh, thank God, Honey, you’re okay! When you slipped on the side of the pool and hit your head, I was about to call the hospital! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess,” Curtis mused. He certainly wasn’t fine, but this was way too weird to admit! Did he just swap bodies into this woman! Or maybe he always had been this woman, and what he thinks are his memories are an effect of hitting his head?