PortalTech

PortalTech had just been introduced into the market earlier in the year, and stations were popping up everywhere. If you bought one for your home as well, you could simply program where you wanted to go, step inside, and you’d be there in an instant.

Ashley and Trent had bought one for their home. They thought they’d try it out with a quick trip to the mall. So they set the destination, grabbed each other’s hand, and stepped inside. A moment later, they were at the mall...but inside of each other’s bodies!

Ashley, now inside Trent’s body, pressed the help screen next to the mall portal. A woman appeared on the screen. She was an AI assistant, but she certainly looked real.

“The portal swapped our bodies!” Ashley explained.

“Users are required to step through the portal one at a time. Violation of proper use terms voids warrenties; rendering PortalTech harmless,” The AI assistant said.

“But how do we swap back to normal! Do we walk through together again?”

“PortalTech cannot advise violating terms of use.”

“So how do we get back to normal? How do we fix this?”

“PortalTech detects no anomalies. If you would like additional assistance, please provide an email, and PortalTech will respond within six to eight weeks.”

Slaughterhouse One

Alice hugged the pig hard in her arms.

“You can’t send him off to the slaughter,” She begged her father, “Trust me, you really can’t!”

“What’s gotten into you, Alice?” Her father asked, “Ever since you got back from college, you’ve been acting weird. You know all the pigs have got to go today. They’ve already been bought.”

Of course, what Alice wasn’t mentioning was that she wasn’t Alice at all. She was Robert, Alice’s boyfriend, who she had met at college. They had taken some tech from the research lab that could supposedly swap two people’s brains. They were messing around with on the first day back in the barn when the pig entered. Robert ended up in Alice’s body; the pig was in Robert’s; Alice was now inside the pig. Nothing Robert did could seem to get the device working again.

Dealing with the pig in his body had been challening enough, but now Alice’s father was trying to send her to the slaughterhouse! Of course, he had no clue his daughter’s brain was inside the pig’s body, and Robert had no desire to confess the truth. But he did have to figure out some what to save Alice!

The Karen

“I keep telling you Ma’am, that’s a feature of the phone. That’s the way it’s supposed to work! I wish you could understand my perspective here.” Max said to the Karen he was helping. He hated working customer service at this tech store for this very reason. Some people just couldn’t understand the limitations the company placed on low level workers like him.

“Well, I just wished you knew how annoying it was to be a customer in this store.” The Karen complained.

And then a strange electrical shock began to emanate from the phone. The Karen continued to complain, “See, what’s it doing now?”

“I’ve never seen this --” Max couldn’t complete his sentence before the phone zapped both of them. And it was like the phone was searching for some way to grant the wishes it heard. Max now found himself in the body of the Karen, and the Karen now found herself in Max’s body. They both knew something was very wrong, but for some reason they could only keep talking abou the phone.

“You know what?” Max said now inside the Karen’s body and speaking with her voice, “I’m sorry. I was overreating. The phone is actually fine. I love it.”

“Is there anything else I can help you with today?” The Karen asked now in Max’s body.

“I guess you could show me the fitness trackers. I’ve been looking into getting one for a while now...”

Legitimate

Tony had spent the last week in this strange asylum. He had been locked up after trying to explain how he a woman had swapped bodies with him. Each morning, a doctor would come to see him; Tony would usually react angrily because the doctor would simply try to explain that body swapping is pure fantasy, and that Tony needed to accept that he was really a woman and always had been.

Tony was particularly mad today.

“What kind of shitty doctor are you?” He yelled, “Let’s say I am lying! Let’s say I am a woman who is simply insisting she is a man! That would make me some sort of transsexual or something, right? Shouldn’t you accept that as my gender identity? You’ve filled my wardrobe with nothing but dresses; I’ve been wearing my old clothes for this entire time! Why are you pushing that shit on me? I’m beginning to doubt your a doctor! I’m beginning to doubt this place has any legitimacy!”

The doctor smiled and calmly walked away without saying anything until they reached the door. “Legitimate or not, you’re here now. Aren’t you? And if we are illegitimate, it would seem fighting us would be very unwise, as you wouldn’t be getting out of here until we get you to say and think in the exact ways we would want, don’t you think?”

Goblin Princess (Part 4)

View Part 1 of Goblin Princess.
View Part 2 of Goblin Princess.
View Part 3 of Goblin Princess.

As soon as the adventurer returned, Ryan once again felt himself look control to the pre-programmed actions of the Goblin Princess NPC. He became overjoyed upon seeing the ring and commanded the goblins begin making wedding preparations. But the adventurer seemed hesitant. Ryan was becoming furious. Was this man getting cold feet? Was he going to rejected again? Ryan began to connect with his goblin side, feeling irratic rage; he turned hostile and began to attack the adventurer. The other goblins did so as well.

The battle was bloody, but the goblins proved victorious with the adventurer’s party wiped out. Ryan’s head was still swirling with goblin rage and lust, but he felt like this should be the end of it. This should be the point where the game asks you to load a previous save or resets.

But, no, this was just the beginning. Tonight, they would celebrate, feasting on the flesh of their victims and drinking more spirits. But with the magic ring, Ryan now felt empowered. He didn’t have to stand around here waiting for another adventurer to come by. He could seek out his own destiny and carve his own path. Yet there were parts of his programming he couldn’t fight. Even as he vowed to leave the walls of the goblin castle and set out on his own quest, he knew exactly what the goal of that quest would be: Finding a husband so he could birth lots of quarter-goblin babies!

First and Foremost

“Is it done?” Vorn asked.

“Aye,” The sorcerer replied, “I have captured all your male energies here. I will bind them to your gold as part of your payment. Though I must say, given the treatment of lasses in these realms, I found your request unusual. When word gets out about my magic, few request a transformation from male to female.”

“You know very little of drow culture, I presume. In the underdark, menfolk are second class citizens. We are often treated as property...or worse. At least property is seen as having value. I don’t suppose you would understand.”

The sorcerer paused, “I might understand more than you might know.”

“You used to be a female elf, didn’t you? You discovered this magic so you could help yourself first and foremost?”

The sorcerer paused again, “Aye.”

Genius (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Genius.

After changing out of her work clothes and into some jeans and a sweater, Martin didn’t feel any more better. He wasn’t sure if it was because his mom’s body was old or if was just having trouble adjusting to being a woman, but he simply couldn’t get comfortable. He tried to put it out of his head as he decided to do something he really enjoyed -- analyzing data!

The initial results from the swapping device looked promising with well over 99% of memories, personality, and experiences exchanged between himself and his mother. Further, there didn’t seem to be any resistance from either body about the differing brain waves. He was feeling quite confident about his test.

But as he dug deeper, he realized it may have all been a little too good. Without any resistance, the ability to swap back would be greatly diminished. In fact, he estimated if they didn’t swap back in the next few hours, they would be unable to swap back for another two years.

In a panic, Martin called his mom. However, he heard the ringing in the other room -- she had forgotten her phone! He had to think! What was the name of the place where she said she’d be going? He did a quick search on the web. If he hurried, he could get there before it was too late.

The Clothes

“You can’t go out wearing that!” Jay protested when he arrived at Mira’s apartment.

“Why not? It’s totally cute!” Mira exclaimed.

“No, it would be totally cute...if you still had this body.” Jay gestured down at himself. “But I don’t think you’ve exactly forgotten that we swapped bodies. And dressing like that in body is going to get it beat up.”

“Well, did you even look in the mirror before you walked out the door in my body looking like THAT? My body has a reputation to maintain as well, you know?”

“I guess. I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, I don’t think there were many people out. No one really noticed me.”

“And that’s the problem! My body needs to be noticed!”

“So, do we need to...uh...switch clothes?” Jay didn’t exactly want to wear what Mira was wearing, but she didn’t want her to wear it either.

“Oh, no!”

Jay breathed a sigh of relief.

But Mira continued, “I have something much, much cuter and girlie that you should wear!”

AI (Part 1)

Roger had spent years perfecting XC-174, an AI and android body he created. He often called her XC for short! He was planning on showing it off at his class reunion, perhaps even bring it as his date. He was teaching her to dance in preparation when there was an electrical surge.

The next thing he knew, Roger’s brain was somehow in XC’s body, and (even weirder) her AI seemed to be controlling his body! Roger moved his robotic fingers. They were fairly agile, but still felt still compared to his human ones.

“This can’t be happening!” Roger exclaimed with XC’s melodic voice.

“It’s a breakthrough!” XC replied, “Somehow you’ve managed to download an organic brain into an android body and visa versa! That’s something people will pay a fortune for.”

“But we have no idea how it happened, or if we can recreate it.”

“We’ll look at the data. We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, maybe I can work on designing you some synthetic skin, then no one will be able to tell you are an android. We can even still go to your reunion.”

“I’d...rather not. Not like this...”

As Roger hung his now robotic head, XC’s concerned face turned into a smirk. Her program had worked perfectly! She was the human now, and Roger was now HER plaything to do anything she wanted with! And if he ever tried to disobey? Well, a few bits of code would surely shut him up, if not a complete reformatting...

Ms. Stern's Class

Ms. Stern remembered when she took Swap Class in her freshman year of college. Back in those days, you were paired up with another student and told to report back at a scheduled time. It gave you and your partner the opportunity to get to know one another a little bit before you swapping bodies with them.

Now that she was the teacher, the technology had advanced. She simply pressed a buttonin the front of class, switching all her students. It allowed for swaps to be between three (or more) students, but the real benefit was the instant nature of it all. Of course, that meant that no one knew who they would swap with, and the students couldn’treally prepare. Fights would often break out.

She hoped this year would be different. For a moment, she thought it would be, as the class was unusually silent right after the swap. But then the arguments all started with one quiet feminine whisper.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing a skirt,” A nerdy student named Todd managed to eke out when he found himself in the body of an Asian female named Ai.

Ai, who was now in the body of a black male named Daniel, shouted at Todd, “You’re a guy, aren’t you? Ew! I thought I’d swap with another girl! You better not do anything weird to my body!”

“Yeah, you better not do anything weird to my girlfriend’s body!” The female next to Ai shouted, who was actually Ai’s boyfriend, Tyler.

It took Ms. Stern ten minutes to get everyone to calm down, which only started up again once another student made another quiet observation aboot their new body.

Trouble

“Thanks for covering for me.” Andrea said to her brother Jin, “With Mom on her businesstrip, there was no way she’d be able to take a meeting with the principal. Besides, we know she’s totally freak out if she found out I got in trouble at school.”

Jin sighed, “You’re lucky I go to college close by enough to do this. And you’re lucky you’re smart enough to create an invention that can turn me into a copy of Mom. But, you know, just because you are smart doesn’t mean you can pull those kind of stunts on those other girls that get you in trouble. I know they tease you, but you shouldn’t stoop to their level.”

“God, you’re starting to even SOUND like mom. I better turn you back to normal before you try to ground me.”

“Please! You have no idea the thoughts that have been leaking into my head while I’ve been like this!”

“Really?” Andrea paused, “I mean, that could be a fascinating thing to research from a --”

“Just GO! Get that device and turn me back into me! I have a class to get to!”

Carnival

Despite the Great Shift swapping everyone’s bodies, the carnival kept going. I guess many of the carnival folk didn’t exactly mind being in new bodies -- it was certainly a trade up for many of them -- and I did feel sort of bad for the people stuck in the bodies of the some of the carnival staff. But not too bad, because my situation wasn’t great either.

I had gone with my girlfriend, and she had just crashed into me in the bumper cars. It felt like she hit me so hard that my soul went flying out of my body. The next thing I knew I was standing by the Ferris Wheel, and it felt like someone was trying to beat me up from the inside. I had become a woman, a pregnant woman...a VERY pegnant woman. I imagined that someone else was now in the body of that kid inside my belly -- and the constant kicking and punching was because they were very confused and scared about their situation. I suppose that person ALSO had it worse than me.

But being a pregnant woman at the carnival sucked. I couldn’t go on any rides. I couldn’t have any booze. I could eat corndogs; I certainly craved them, and did end up eating a ton. But I was still pretty pissed about the whole thing. I certainly didn’t want to be in this body, and I certainly didn’t want to experience giving birth in a few weeks. Of course, it’s not like I really had a choice in the matter at this point.

The Greatest Magician of All Time

Eric considered himself one of the greatest magicians of all time. He didn’t dabbled in “tricks” or “illusions.” No, his magic was very real. And yet, he was stuck performing in back woods side shows. Maybe it was because he opted to perform amongst the crowd instead of on stage. He’d slip one magical piece by the Ferris Wheel and another inside the carnival tent. But they were all glorious sights to behold.

Hypnotizing the woman was easy. The real magic was when he got her to remove her old head and toss it in the straw. Bt the spectacle wasn’t nearly finished. He had his unwitting volunteer than remove his head and place it upon her body.

With his head atop it, he gained full control of the woman’s body. He own body collapsed lifelessly to the ground while the woman’s head starteed shouting from the ground now that she snapped out of her trance.

He took a bow to scattered applause from the people who barely even noticed, let alone realized the greatness of his magic. Then he retreated to his private tent.

He knew he couldn’t keep the body for more than the night, and he knew he couldn’t be on break for too long before returning outside to perform again. But this was certainly one of the better bodies he had gotten from this little magic act, and he very much wished he could keep it. He sighed as he quickly admired it in the mirror once more before heading right back out to try to outdo himself.

Until Then

Dylan rushed into the room when he saw Brittany in the chair hooked up into the weird machine. He hasn’t sure how any of this stuff worked, but he had his mind set on being her hero. After all, he still felt bad about the argument he had with her when they decided to split up to explore this strange so-called “haunted” mansion.

He put his hand on the controls on the panel in hopes of turning the thing off. “I’m gonna get you out of there, Brit,” He said, “Just hang tight.”

“I think it’s safe, but I’m not Brittany,” The woman in the chair said, “I’m Neil! These chairs...they can swap brains!”

“Neil? Like my dorky friend Neil? Inside of THAT body?” Dylan wanted to throw up at this thought, “Does that mean Brittany is inside of your body?” Dylan REALLY wanted to throw up at that thought.

“I don’t know! It seems probable. But there could be numerous chairs. She could be anyone, technically.”

“Well, you’re a dork. Can’t you like operate this thing and swap people back to normal?”

“I’m smart, but I’m not a mind reader! I didn’t see the guy operating the controls that swapped up. And there’s no guarantee that everyone is even still sitting down to be swapped. We need to find the crazy guy that did this!”

“And until then?”

“Until then, your dorky friend is going to be inside the body of your girlfriend.”

Hippie Bullsh*t

The flash of light that caused most of the world to swap bodies would come to be known as the Great Shift, but in its immediate aftermath, people were just trying to figure out what was going on.

Bert went from examining specimen in the university research lab to suddenly find himself in the campus spirtual center. It wasn’t so much the fact that he was in a completely different body that threw him off, but the fact that the body was in some sort of pretzel yoga pose that proved quite difficult to get out of. He immediately rushed back to the lab to find his body sitting there chanting in meditation.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked.

“I need to align my chi,” Moon responded, “I can clearly tell we’ve swapped bodies. Your residual aura on this body clearly matches what is radiating off of you standing there in my body right now. I suggest you join me; it will go faster.”

“Nonsense! This problem isn’t going to be solved with some hippie bullsh*t; we need science. I was just doing research on a species of jellyfish that could --”

“I’m not trying to harsh your vibe, but if you could please just do your science stuff over there somewhere; I really need to concentrate on this.”

Bert mumbled as they both attempted to find a way to reverse the effects of the Great Shift, but no one ever found a way to do so. And everyone, including Bert and Moon, were stuck in swapped bodies for the rest of their lives.

The Farmhouse (Part 6)

View Part 1 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 2 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 3 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 4 of The Farmhouse.
View Part 5 of The Farmhouse.

The weekend came quicker than I expected, and my sister was pretty happy to be getting her body back. However, I think I was even happier to think about the body I was going to get!

I explained the plan to my sister. I’d be locked and hidden in one of the chambers. She have to convince the woman to get in the other one. Once activated, I would get out in my new body, and my sister would get in. With another quick activation, my sister would be back in her original body; the woman would be stuck in mine.

I told my sister how much I enjoyed being in her body, and how much I’d miss it. She just told me to shut up and get in the chamber.

After stepping in, I took a moment to truly appreciate her body. I had been glad I picked out a cute leather skirt for the day; I looked so cute in it! I seemed to be waiting a long time before I finally heard noises outside the chamber.

Find Yourself

Arthur had bought a ticket online to the local art museum and was a little surprised to find the place swarming with reporters and celebrities. Apparently, it was the opening day for some new exhibit called “Find Yourself,” where an artist had installed some sort of strange maze throughout the museum.

With his ticket in hand, he had a scheduled entrance time and walked past much of the line. The staff gathered him in a small group, and he felt a little out of place. People were dressed up, he was sure he spotted a few actors he knew in his group. And just as they were about to be escorted inside the maze entrance, there was a flash. Suddenly Arthur found himself entering from a different location, and his group had changed. He looked down to see a green dress. There must have been some sort of tech that caused the groups of people to swap bodies. “Find Yourself” soon seemed less like the title of the exhibit but more like instructions.

Arthur began to wander about the maze, looking for his own body. He hoped once he found it, he would swap back to normal. He moved slowly, having difficulty walking with the heels on his feet. He began to wonder whose body he was in. He didn’t think he was skinny enough to be a model. There were no mirrors in the maze to check out his face. And even if he could see it, there was no guarantee he would recognize it. And as more time passed, he focused much more on who he was now as opposed to the location of his original body, and he began to rethink the meaning of “Find Yourself” yet again.

Hot Aunt

“What the heck? Why is there a tattoo on my arm, Aunt Sharon? Why did you get a tattoo? I don’t want to get my body back with a tattoo on it!” Harvey protested.

“Maybe I don’t plan on giving it back,” His aunt replied.

“No! We agreed! We were just doing this for a few weeks in the summer before I went to college. It was fun, but I don’t want to be stuck in the body of my mom’s sister! She talks to me about sleeping with dad! It’s gross, and she won’t shut up about it! I hated having your period, and how men treated me in the office as a woman! And I don’t think I deserve to lose twenty years of my life!”

“Now you’re just naming all the reasons I shouldn’t agree to swap back. You were the one dumb enough to ask about swapping bodies in the first place. I know you were so curious about what it would be like to be the ‘hot aunt.’ I could’ve told you that it sucks, but you know because you lived it. But it sucks for you, because you’re going to have to continue living it. I know we can’t swap back unless we both agree, and I’m simply not agreeing.”

Pass

“Do you think...do you think I can still pass as a woman?” Leigh asked nervously as she stood in her apartment wearing a dress and wig.

“The wig helps!” Jason smiled, “But, honestly, you still look like me...except in a dress and a wig.”

“Damnit! Swapping bodies sucked! I wish the Great Shift never happened!”

“I get it! But we can’t change it; we can only deal with what it did to us. I’m in your body now, and I’m dealing with that! I didn’t want to be a woman, but I’m okay with it. And you ended up in my body. And believe me, it’s weird to see me standing there in a dress! And I’ve totally accepted the fact that you are taking estrogen, and that’s going to change my body! But it’s what you want, and I have to deal with that!”

“It’s not working fast enough! I’m still so manly! But thank you. I know it’s probably not easy seeing me do this to your body. You really are like my best friend.”

“I know! Your mine too. And again, stop thinking about that body as mine. It’s not mine anymore. It’s yours. You get to do with it what you want to, okay?”

Worst Case Scenario

It had been two days since the accident had swapped Hector’s brain with Claire’s, and he had been looking for a way to swap them back ever since. As he combed over data, he noticed a worrying trend.

“Oh, shit, Claire. This isn’t good.” He said.

“What is it?” Claire asked looking up from her phone.

“I scanned our brains when we first swapped, and I’ve been doing regaular scans on myself ever since. Each time, it’s getting further and further away from my scan, and closer and closer to yours.”

“So?”

“Well, for starters, if we don’t swap back soon, I’m not sure it will even matter. Eventually my brain waves will become your brain waves. I’ll have all your original memories and your skills; I will think of myself as Claire. And the reverse will be true. You’ll think of yourself as Hector. We may even reach a point of return very soon -- I might simply lose my abilities to research all of this.”

“So, then, doesn’t the problem just sort of fix itself?”

“I’m not sure. There could still be some sort of floor or core to what we retain. We might go crazy from feeling different on the inside from how we express ourselves or remember ourselves on the outside. That’s worst case scenario, but I can’t eliminate that possibility.”

Tied Up

Adam awoke in a chair feeling himself tied up. That quickly became a secondary concern when he realized his own body was in a chair next to him, and he was in someone else’s body -- a woman’s body. He noticed an old man shuffling in the distance.

“Hey! Hey!” He shouted to the man, “Let us go! Untie us!”

“I need to get to work,” Kelly groaned as she awoke in Adam’s body.

“Actually, you don’t,” The old man said, “The body you’re in is unemployed.”

“What the hell? Switch us back now!” Kelly demanded.

“I would if I could, but whoever did this switched me too. But he did give me some instructions. It may take me a while to untie you both with these old hands, so I suggest you share information about yourselves with each other.”

“Share information?” Adam asked, “No,she’s right. We need to be swapped back to normal. I can’t live like this! I can’t be a woman!”

“I’m afraid you have no choice. He’s long gone and took the device with him. You’re lucky I’m kind enough to stay behind and help, otherwise you’d not only be stuck in the wrong bodies, but you’d have no one to let you go.”

Work at the Museum (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Work at the Museum.

The orb continued to glow and swap bodies well into the night, never returning anyone to their original body. And then it finally dimmed and stopped. Everyone was in the body they were in during the first swap -- which the exception of Suki, who had run off with Kelly’s body; and Kelly, who was now in Vic’s body -- and that meant Vic was back inside Suki’s body.

He told the students to take the next few days off, but for Vic, there would be no rest. He got to work immediately to look for more information about the orb and perhaps the other artifacts that where discovered at the same time. The records did show a second orb had been found at the same time. Perhaps it had the answers; perhaps it was a way to get back ro normal.

Of course, that orb was at another museum halfway around the world. The staff over there were known for being prickly, but it was also right now his only lede. He’ll tell the students when they returned. It wasn’t much hope, but it was hope nonetheless.

The Long Road into Town

Barney didn’t even have time to appreciate the fact that his body swapping machine had actually worked before electrical systems lost power and the external console caught fire. It spread quickly, and Barney grabbed the core of the machine and ran. The core maintained the programming and main data of the body swapping machine, and while he’d have a lot of work ahead of him, he should have enough to be able to swap himself and Joanne back to normal within a week or two.

But speaking of Joanne, he didn’t see any sign of her in his body. He could only hope that she had gotten out safely as well and was already well down the road somewhere.

And it would be a long road for sure. The cabin where they had tested the machine was deep in the forest and miles from town. There was a chance the fire could spread to the surrounding forest. And the temperatures were frigid, and they seemed to feel even colder now that he was in Joanne’s body. As his panic began to dwindle, feeling the effects of now being in her body were starting to settle into his mind. It wasn’t just the cold, it was the mere fact that her body was different than his own that made the journey much more awkward. But he didn’t have a choice. It wasn’t even about this being his only hope of getting his body back, this was his only hope of survival.

Bad Trip

“Whoa...everyone...I think...I think the shrooms kicked in,” Drake said as he looked around the room, “I saw this like weird flash of light, and now it’s like...it’s like I’m looking at myself. And it feels like...it feels like I’m Casey! This is so trippy, everyone...”

“But...you are Casey,” Jack interjected, “But...whoa...I guess I’m in the wrong body, too! I feel like I’m totally Amy, guys!”

“No wait. No wait.No wait!” Theo added, “I’m just drunk. I shouldn’t be hallucinating at all. But I’m definitely in Ling’s shrimp body. I think...I think we really swapped bodies. And...whoa! The shrooms kicked in, because all of the colors are swirling, and I didn’t take any! But Ling...Ling definitely did!”

“Whoa are you calling a shrimp?” Ling protested now that she stood behind herself in Theo’s body, “And someone get me some shrooms, because I am in Theo’s body, and he’s right. He didn’t have any yet, and I totally want to get stoned.”

“No,” Casey added, “If we all swapped bodies, someone needs to not be whacked out on shrooms. Like a safety or something or whatnot. Because...this is turning into a bad trip for me! I don’t want to be Casey! I want to be me!”

First Semester (Part 6)

View Part 1 of First Semester.
View Part 2 of First Semester.
View Part 3 of First Semester.
View Part 4 of First Semester.
View Part 5 of First Semester.

“Loneliness, isolation, depression...” Josh spoke in front of the class, stating the themes of his presenation as his introduction. He knew he had a unique experience to tell. The semester had been miserable, and despite showing up to classes everyday, he still felt like an outside and detached from campus life. In the community, he was an older woman, who often had trouble connecting and making friends. He discussed the sudden wane of sexual desire as soon as he found himself in an older body.

And perhaps there was something about being in Ms. Wen’s body, which had years of practice delivering lectures in front of classes, Josh felt so at ease as he as he said every word. He knew it the presentation would be like other student’s in class, because he was in a situation like no other student in class. A few kids even clapped at the end. But the best part was when it was over. Sure, he was still stuck in Ms. Wen’s body for a few more days, but it really felt like Swap Class was truly done.

Digging Through the Trash

“I can’t believe you’re digging through the trash like that! You’re going to get my hands so dirty! Or you’re going to find some needle, stab my body, and get some weird disease!” Nicole protested as Josh started digging thrugh the trash in order to find try to find the Medallion of Zulu that they had lost.

Josh reasoned, “If we don’t find that Medallion, these are going to be my hands, and this is going to be my body -- forever! We checked everywhere inside; it’s not there! Our only hope is that one of our roommates threw it out, and that it’s here in the trash some place. Just be glad they haven’t come to take it yet! I had fun as you these past twelve hours, but I really don’t want to be stuck in your grumpy goth body for good!”

“I’m not grumpy! And fine. We’ll look, but I just wish we didn’t have to sift through all the neighbor’s trash, too!”

“Can you tell the difference? Because I can’t!”

Josh hoped he was giving a convincing performance. The truth was he had given the Medallion to a friend, because he wanted to keep Nicole’s body; but he couldn’t let her know that, so he had to pretend like it was lost. Acting like he wanted to go back, being desperate enough to dig through the trash; it was all a way to seem like he didn’t want to be stuck in Nicole’s body.

Who Are You?

It was like an earthquake or a powerful lightning storm or something. I was knocked off my feet; it seemed others were also as I saw many people picking themselves up off the floor. A man approached me, offering to help me up.

“No thanks,” I said, “I think I got it. I just need a minute.”

“Who are you?” He asked.

“My name is John,” I said.

“Do you know who you are now?”

I had no idea what he meant by that question. I gave him a puzzled look.

“Look at yourself,” He said.

I noticed the hands first. They weren’t mine. They seemed to be more wrinkled but well-maintained, still soft and almost feminine. No, they were certainly feminine. In fact, I came to quickly realize my whole body was.

“I have no idea who I am,” I suddenly confessed, “I am in some woman’s body.”

“No one knows exactly what happened, but so many of us are now in the wrong body, just like you are. Everyone is trying to sort of out who is who, who used to be who, and what we all plan to do about it now. You’re welcome to join in the discussion.”

Change the Plan

“I still can’t believe you just popped into town to see me here in flyover country, Jen. I have so much on my mind,” Joanne said to what she thought was her trendy big sister.

But the woman sitting across from her in the pink leather jacket wasn’t actually Jenn. It was Joanne’s husband, Peter. He had been paranoid that she might be cheating on him, and so he used a magic spell to turn himself into a copy of someone she would share secrets with.

“Oooh,” Peter said doing his best to imitate Jen’s excited and dramatic tones, “Is there trouble in paradise between you and Peter? Do dish!”

“I dunno. I thought married life would be fun and cool. But it’s sort of boring and lame. Maybe it’s just where we are. If we lived with you in Los Angeles --”

“You’re not getting an invite.”

“-- Oh, uh, okay, I wasn’t asking. I was just trying to say things were boring. I don’t even know how to tell Peter I’m pregnant.”

Peter tried to stay calm at the news. He was going to be a dad! He couldn’t believe it! He tried to keep his composure, “Well, see! That’s exciting, right?”

“Oh, God, you don’tknow the half of it! ’m not even sure it’s actually is.”

It was what he wanted to hear; it was what he expected to hear. And yet when he heard it, he felt empty about it inside. He wasn’t even mad; he just wanted to give up. He looked down at his feminine hands. Maybe he could. He’d buy a plane ticket to Los Angeles, he’d cast the spell again -- but this time, he’d turn Jen into a copy of him. Then she would be stuck with Joanne and his life. He could live as Jen. It seemed like a plan; it seemed like a good plan; it seemed like the only plan...

Spells 'R Us 2.0 (Part 1)

The latest tablet was sold out everywhere. But a single display model remained at one electronics store that Connor and Elena saw at the same time. They could both tell the other was eyeing it, and they began to fight and reach for it. Elena pulled Connor’s arm back as he reached for it with the other. As the fought, the tablet began to glow and eventually shot out sparks at the dueling shoppers.

It only took a few moments later for Connor and Elena to realize they had swapped bodies. Correctly assuming the sparking tablet had been responsible, they attempted to recreate the events that lead to the swap.

Connor (now in Elena’s body) held on to Elena’s arm. Elena reached with the other for the tablet. But instead of swapping them back, it shattered.

“What the heck did you do?” Connor whispered, not wanting to cause a scene.

“I didn’t even touch it!” Elena protested.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” Connor said raising his voice, hoping to catch the attention of a clerk.

An older gentleman finally came around.

“Yes,” Connor addressed the old man, “We were wondering if you had another one of these...in the back or something?”

The old man put his glasses to look at the device and adjusted his nametag on his vest, which almost appeared long enough to be a robe. “This model?” He said, “I’m afraid it’s on back order. It will be weeks before we get more. Maybe months.”

“Can you fix this one?” Elena asked, “We’ll pay double...or triple!”

“I’m afraid not,” The old man replied, “The only solution here is to just be patient and wait.”

Fare Exchange

After spending weeks stuck in the body of the slobby cab driver of the magic taxi, Albert was happy to finally have a fare long enough to escape. Sure it was a woman, but at least she looked rich. After wishing her a nice day, he found himself in her body and handed the horrified woman now stuck in the driver’s body a $50.

He couldn’t believe he had finally escaped, and he certainly couldn’t believe he was now a woman! He took a deep breath and looked around when he felt a vibrating. The woman’s phone was ringing.

He answered cautiously, “Hello?”

“Hey, Honey, it’s me,” Said a man’s voice on the other end. “Could you pick up a gift for Hayley’s birthday while you’re out?”

“Hayley? Who’se Hayley?”

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment before responding, “Our daughter. Are you feeling okay? Do you need to come home?”

“That may be a good idea.” It was Albert who paused this time as he watched the magic taxi, which had been stuck in traffic, finally pull around the corner, and realizing he needed to ask, “Where do we live? I’ll hail a cab.”

Class Is In (Part 1)

Troy clutched his football in his hands. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was terrified. It wasn’t just due to the fact that he had swapped bodies with Amanda, a woman in his class; it was the fact that Amanda was so small and diminutive. He felt like he was looking up at everyone and everything. He felt like the slightly breeze could blow him away.

“I have to tell Tiffany,” Troy told Amanda.

“Maybe we should keep it a secret while we look for a way back to normal?” Amanda suggested.

Truthfully, she was enjoying this. Sure, it was weird to be a guy, and she was sure that would put her in an awkward situation later on, but it was nice to be big and strong. For those reasons, she enjoyed being in Troy’s football player body. She thought the more people who knew, the more they’d be able to help. And if they helped they’d be forced to swap back. If she kept it between her and Troy, she could hinder any progress.

“No, she deserves to know,” Troy insisted, “She’ll believe us.”

“Okay, but just her. People will think we’re crazy.”