The Movement

Fiona had joined The Movement in hopes of achieving a sense of belonging. In hindsight, she knew she should’ve been more suspicious. But for some reason, all the warning signs about the movement being a cult passed her by until the strange ceremony that resulted in her swapping bodies with an older man named Jacob.

“I want out of this cult!” She finally demanded.

“It’s not a cult,” Jacob replied from inside Fiona’s body. It disturbed her so much to hear him speaking these words with her voice, “And you’re allowed to leave at any time

“But I want to leave with MY body!”

“What you don’t seem to understand is that it isn’t your body anymore. It belongs to The Movement, and The Movement has assigned it to me. It is one of the many sacrifices we all make when we join. We all give ourselves to The Movement -- our money, our resources, our bodies. We are rewarded by how much we give. I have given millions of dollars and countless hours of work to be rewarded with this body on The Alignment. You may leave now as you are, or continue to put more effort to be better rewarded at the time of the next Alignment. The choice is yours, Jacob.”

“My name is Fiona!”

“No, I am Fiona. You are Jacob. That is who The Alignment says you are.”

Fiona cried. She wanted to leave. But maybe if she stayed until the next Alignment, there was a chance she’d get her body back...