Airport

It was probably better that Daniel was still on the ground waiting to board when the Great Shift happened; the horror stories of people being midair during the massive body swapping event seemed absolutely terrifying. Yet, he was still in someone else’s body thousands of miles away from his home.

The planes were all grounded, and businesses like hotels and car rentals were obviously having trouble with everyone swapped. That meant Daniel (and many others) were stuck at the airport as things started to get back to normal. People slept on the seats and on the floor. They often kept the luggage of their new body while getting a few personal items like keys and phones from their old ones.

Daniel signed up for a few text alerts, hoping to get some form of transportation home soon enough. There was a part of him that was just trying to get through this day-by-day; the other part of him genuinely curious about getting some privacy with his new body. After all, he was a woman now -- and a particularly attractive one at that -- what guy wouldn’t be a little curious?

Women's Only Beach

For the past few years, Drew had gotten into a lot of online forums and groups and had become a self-proclaimed “men’s rights” activist. He became insufferable on social media, and even most of his friends stopped hanging out with him in real life. While he was still able to get an occasional date, he never got a second one.

When he read about a “women’s only” beach a few hours away, he became furious. He drove out there immediately so he could demand to be there as well while touting his “men’s rights.”

Despite the “women only” signs at the entrance, Drew was surprised that no one tried to stop him as he marched into the beach and into the water; he kept marching as the water approached all the way up to his neck.

A little disappointed he hadn’t created a scene by showing up, he started walking back to shore to demand answers. As he emerged from the water, he noticed the unmistakable change to his body. His swim trunks were gone and replaced with a bikini; in fact, the entirety of whatever male body parts that were under the water were now women’s parts as well.

“What the hell?” He shouted, “What did you do to me?”

“The signs were clear,” A nearby swimmer said flatly, “Only women are allowed.”

Drew was now nervous. “If I leave, will I go back to normal?” He asked.

“No one ever has. The way I see it, you have two choices. You can either leave and live like the freak you currently are, or you can dunk your head under and enjoy a new life as a woman.”

It's a Boy Girl Thing

The Great Shift happened in our senior year of high school, and there were a few crazy swaps with one person swapping with a person from a distant country 3,000 miles away and one or two students swapping with teachers. But for the most part, we all swapped amongst ourselves -- a bunch of 18 year old seniors swapping with other 18 year old seniors. There were a few shakeups in the social heirarchy, for sure, but for me? Eh, I ended up in Jenn’s body; I went from being a dorky white guy to a nerdy asian girl. It was a lateral move for sure.

I didn’t think much of it until prom rolled around. I hadn’t ever even considered that I would want to go, but for some reason I did. Our school used to follow tradition with guys asking the girls out, but after the Great Shift all that was out the window. At least that’s what I was telling myself since no one had asked me yet.

And so about a week after the date was announced, I decided to be bold and ask my best friend, Philip. He hadn’t been swapped at all by the Shift (lucky bastard), and I knew he had a crush of Jenn since freshman year. So one day after school, I went to the comic book shop where he worked and went to buy a graphic novel with a crumbled up $20 I pulled out of my pocket.

“So, Philip, how’s...things?” I asked with the smoothness of a dirt road.

“Alright, I guess.” He said as he handed me my change that I shoved back into my pocket.

“Was wondering if you...wanted to go to the prom...with me?” My awkward pauses would’ve made William Shatner seem eloquent.

“Oh, sorry, I’m already going with Becky.”

“BECKY!?” I screamed not quite realizing why I was angry, “But she’s like 300 pounds! And I’m...THIS! You’ve had a crush on THIS forever!”

“Yeah, but she swapped bodies with another girl, so she’s like a GIRL girl. And you’re...well, you’re more like a BOY girl...because you used to be a guy, ya know?”

It felt so mean and cruel. I wanted to scratch his eyes out. I wanted to keep shouting my head off. Instead I grabbed my graphic novel and cried as I ran out of the store. I hadn’t hated my life back when I was a guy, and I honestly hadn’t minded becoming a girl. But being called a “boy girl” hurt. It felt so dehumanizing, and being called that by my best friend of all people? I just wanted to go home and crawl into a ball and die.

Taking Down a Supe

No one was quite sure where they came from, but superheroes started showing up in our city, everyone praised them at first. But then budgets for things like cops and private security fell into the toilet and guys like me, middle aged men who worked as guards, were often out of work.

It was probably ironic that so many of us that used to uphold the law turned to crime just to pay the bills. Most of us usually hoped a few low level jobs would stay under the superheroes’ radar, but we prepped with some scumbag arms dealer just in case. He gave me a bright orange gun that looked like it belonged at a kid’s party instead of a robbery, but he assured me it could “take down a supe.” I’d have to give him a cut for the next couple years.

My plan was to rob ten convenience stores each week, but only taking $200 from each. Like I said, keep it small and stay off the radar. I had only hit up three by the time I found myself walking down an alleyway and Viper flew in. I don’t know why she called herself that. It’s not like she spat poison or anything. Her powers were just generic things like speed, strength, and flight. And, of course, she had the requisite moment of allowing me to surrender myself. That’s when I took my shot.

I suppose superheroes don’t even bother to dodge because they think they are invulnerable. With her super speed, Viper ran right into my shot while knocking the gun out of my hands. It was a direct hit, and she just seemed to vanish. I saw the gun on the ground and then quite oddly...I saw myself! My body eyed the gun as well and lunged for it. I reacted by doing the same and realized how much faster I was moving, and it only took me a split second to realize why: I had swapped bodies with Viper. With my new super speed, I was easily able to reach the gun first. With my super strength I took down my former body with one punch. And then I flew off with the gun.

I sat on a roof some time later looking at the strange orange gun some time later. I hadn’t expected it to work in quite the way it did, but the dealer was right, it did allow me to “take down a supe.” Viper was in my body probably rotting away in the local jail. I could certainly continue her crime fighting career, engage in the same sort of public good I did before. But then again, with the powers I had now, super villainy could be a much more profitable option...

Vaccinated

“Honestly, it feels a little silly. I just got the Transformation Virus two weeks ago,” Jorge said as the pharmacist jabbed his arm with the vaccine.

“Well, you know what they say,” She replied, “It’ll prevent you from getting it a second time.”

“Would that be a bad thing? Maybe I could end up being a guy again, you know? Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to roll the dice.”

“Or you could end up 60 years old. Or 70. Or 80. Rolling the dice can be risky. And from where I’m seeing, the body you transformed into is young and healthy and quite attractive.”

“I know. I know. There’s a reason I’m getting this vaccine! But still, a guy can dream of going back to normal too!”

Hyperbole

My girlfriend often talked about how she had an addiction to buying shoes. I had always thought she was speaking in hyperbole. I didn’t even think about it after the accident that caused us to swap bodies. We were both just trying to do our best to act like who we appeared to be. For instance, it didn’t take her long to figure out that I had lied to her about quitting smoking -- she just had regular cravings and found my secret hiding spot. She also told me that if I dared to smoke a single cigarette while in her body, she’d kill me. I had already lied to her about quitting, so I was probably already on thin ice when I made the promise I wouldn’t. But still, I imagined it would be easier in her body since it just didn’t crave nicotine like mine did.

As we settled in to being swapped, things became routine. I headed to a Walmart because we needed a few groceries and my girlfriend told me I was going to need tampons. That was when I saw them. The shoes. They weren’t even great shoes; they were (after all) Walmart shoes. I didn’t care. I wanted to buy a pair -- at least one. They’d be the first pair I bought while in her body. I felt excited; I felt thrilled. I felt like I now truly understood my girlfriend like never before. She wasn’t speaking in hyperbole.

I texted her a selfie with the message, “I think I finally understand.”

She responded with a simple “ :) ”.

The Jackalope (Part 1)

When Trey invited Angela on a weekend skitrip, she was hoping for an excuse to wear some of her cute ski outfits and cuddle by the fireplace. She was annoyed to find out they were actually going with another couple -- Trey’s friends Cody and Heather -- and that all of them were interested in actually skiing. So while they went off and did their jockish exercise stuff, Angela stayed behind in the cabin they had rented. With no signal on the remote mountain for her phone, she was bored. How could Trey abandon her for his friends? Heather was hardly a woman she could relate to; she was the type more interested in the environment and social issues than what Angela thought was important like fashion and celebrities. Cody was especially annoying, often egging Trey on with his extreme machismo. She thought about breaking up with him when he got back. But swiping through old photos of them together and looking at his sexy muscles and chisled good-looking face, she decided it could wait.

After a few hours, she was just staring out the window, waiting for Trey to return when she saw a strange rabbit with antlers (she had no idea it was called a Jackalope). She put on one of her ski outfits to go outside and get a better look. It was so cute and surprisingly well behaved. It approached Angela as she bent down, and it allowed her to pet it. She was so facinated by this little creature, but it was so cold outside. It seemed docile enough, so she picked it up and brought it inside.

With her new little pet, the time passed much quicker. She was almost caught offguard when the front door opened. But as they entered, the Jackalope’s eyes glowed red, and both couples found themselves frozen in place. The small animal proceeded to sniff around to each one of them and waved its antlers in the air, causing the aura swirl and drift from person to person before all four of them collapsed to the floor while the Jackalope hopped out the door.

Once released from the spell and able to move again, the four friends were horrified to find they had all swapped bodies. Angela was absolutely disgusted to be in Cody’s body, and Cody was no happier to be in Angela’s!