The Great Shift - Familiar Face - Part One

Shambling around my kitchen I struggle to get my coffee heated up, the kettle flickering and faulting as it sits in its small little holster. Groaning to myself I slowly begin to shuffle about the small cramped kitchen of my apartment, the thought of going out to buy a new kettle or out for an expensive barista coffee both leaving be wanting.

"For fucks sake..." I groan, running my hands though my short light brown hair as I lean back. For a moment I fiddle with the cable of the kettle's  stand, unfortunately my efforts producing little practical effect as the kettle itself simply splutters and whines.

Biting at my lower lip I stare at the failing appliance, a slight sigh slipping though my lips as I lean up against the counter behind me. It had been months since I lost my teaching job due to budget cuts, and the loss of the very necessary coffee provider was simply something I hadn't budgeted for.

"God damn..." I whine, bracing myself against the counter top across from me as my head throbs with what I can only think is a desperate need for caffeine. Something tugs at the back of my mind, a sensation that is almost painful as the pulling builds and builds by the minutes.

While my focus on the failure of coffee grounded me, the world was wracked and warped by the phenomenon known as 'The Great Shift'. Minds or souls around the world were ripped from their original bodies, the consciousnesses being flung all around the world as the suddenly millions of people found themselves waking up in a body and life entirely beyond their own.

Some blamed passing celestial objects, others cursing all manner of gods, all that mattered in reality was the material fact that all across the globe people were believing without any room for doubt that they were someone miles away.

While some would blame 'society' and the 'ambiguity of lifestyles' for the surge in claims post shift, the reality was that many around the world had simply suddenly found themselves in the body of someone else despite their best intentions.

Governments around the world would respond in kind, dozens of websites and phone-lines becoming established for those who had been 'Shifted' to report their change and to return to their former life with a brand new body under their belt.

However, there were those who simply never reported. These rare few made a rather hasty decision to simply never claim their former life for one reason or another. Some seeking to avoid some penalty clinging to their former life while other merely preferred the look of where they had ended up. While many were caught via their swapping pair reporting the swap for them, some managed to slink under the radar, a tiny percentage being able to merely assume the life they had been cast into.

"For fucks..." I groan, stumbling back as I place my fingers to my temples. My head throbs and aches at ever more painful levels by the minute, the mere lack of coffee failing to explain the sudden mounting pain.

The heady throbs begin to ripple through my body as a whole, my six foot four frame suddenly buckling against the kitchen counter. Slow staggering breathes slowly slip from my lips, my head throbbing and aching as something new and foreign and new tries its best to force its way into the soft and supple gray matter within my skull.

"I..." I call out, my rapidly blurring vision becoming reddened from me as I find myself tumbling through a strange eclectic void. Start and frozen images and vignettes pass by as I find myself tumbling, the sudden twisting shift only lasting a matter of seconds.

With an uncomfortable and painful 'thud' I find myself inhaling sharply, the blankets above me shifting as I take in the deep breath of air. My body feels icy cold for a moment despite the warm blankets piled atop me, a baseline level of expected warmth slowly returning with each heavy beat of my heart and lung filling inhalation.

 

For a moment I chalk everything up to a dream, a soft sigh slipping out as I shift beneath the sheets.

However, the momentary reprieve is quickly shattered as I hear the soft feminine sigh escape my lips and feel the sensation of the sheets glide over my smooth hairless legs. Lurching slightly my breath catches in my chest, my pectorals seemingly extending out in a flabby shelf that squishing against the bed covers and the mattress beneath me.

With my eyes wide open I struggle to see in the low light of the room, the dim and dark space looking worryingly different even in the low light. I instinctively reach for my phone, rolling over slightly with a grunt as I feel the flab on my chest press painfully beneath me.

Try as I might I simply cannot find my phone, my hand even struggling to find the bedside table at all. It feels wrong, the size not making sense entirely while it's placement simply feeling off compared to where I lay.

After several seconds of confused flailing my fingers brush against a cord, my hand quickly following it to a small switch. As I flick the switch with a small click the room floods with light, the brightness stinging my eyes as try my best to avert my gaze.

Squinting and shielding my eyes with my hands I slowly roll back to look at the room, a movement on the other side of the room causing me to jump in shock. The gears in my head churn and grind as the strange shape follows my every move, even jumping and flinching out of fright along with me.

Slowly, I begin to open my eyes as I peer towards the shifting mass across from me. As my eyes adjust to the harsh light I find myself staring at the reflection of...