One Size Fits All - Part One

The morning sun bakes the pavement beneath my feet as I pace through the city, the scent of rain filling the air as last nights downpour evaporates in the newfound heat. It's a perfect day, blue skies as far as the eye can see, and with the weather so wonderful I had simply decided to walk. Lacking any job or responsibilities had their upsides on occasion, and simply being able to go for a walk on a lovely day with no destination in mind was one of them.

It wasn't like I had nothing to do however, my mind turning to the washing sitting ready in my hamper and the growing need to replace some of my old shirts as I turned down into one of the many small shopping strips along the outskirts of the city proper.

The boutiques lining the street were most certainly out of my personal price range, the dwindling savings in my bank account serving better uses than purchasing some designer jeans or tailored button-up top.

However, as I wander past another series of shopfronts I lurch to a stop. Back pedaling slightly I glance back at one store nestled in-between two others in a matter than seemed almost like a subdivision or mistake in the aging buildings construction. The narrow shop sits filled with all manner of flannel tops and seemingly well-made shirts and pants, a series of signs in the window quickly stealing my attention.

CLOSING DOWN SALE

ONE DAY ONLY

UP TO 90% OFF

BUY ONE GET TWO FREE

The Magic Taxi - Part One

 A low guttural burp slips from my foreign lips as I feel my distended belly growl, the sight of a passing cheap and disgusting burger place leaving my body wracked with foul cravings as I cringe internally. I stare at the steering wheel ahead of me, my dark fingers tightening around the fake-leather as I grip the wheel as tightly as I can.

"Fuck... me..." I wheeze in a thick Indian accent, flinching at the sound of the unfamiliar voice escaping my lips.

It had been weeks now and yet I still hadn't gotten used to the sound of the gravelly and all too strange voice I had been stuck with. I had no clue just who had stuck me with this sweat soaked and grotesquely overweight form, the body I had been forced to collapse into the deep stained and indented mattress each night. They had merely picked me up and said the magic words...

'Have a nice day'

And suddenly I had found myself panting behind the wheel in the body of some middle-aged man from South-East Asia, my heart racing so fast that I had thought I was about to die. The image of my body darting out of the taxi played in my mind every single night, the lack of any last words from the thief sticking with me as I had read the notes left behind.

Whether it was from my personal body thief or someone before I couldn't say, all I knew was that the rules for leaving were simple. Earn a $50 fare and say the right words to escape the bloated and purely disgusting form you had been cursed with in exchange for whoever was in the back seat.

Ritual Reborn - Part One

The scratching of chalk and the sounds of strained wheezing breathes fill my apartment, hastily reorganized living room sitting bare but for my hunched and coughing figure looming over the intricate circles etched onto the dark creaking wooden floor.

The overturned coffee table and shifted sofa lay illuminated by a series of dwindling candles, the long red sticks having diminished in size quite substantially since the start of the evening.

"Come on..." I groan with a hoarse cough, sweat dripping from my brow as I pray that some errant droplet doesn't undo hours of work in an instant. Fever wracks my shivering frame, infection ravaging my body to the point it was almost a miracle that I managed to pull myself from bed let alone move the furniture.

It had been weeks since the illness had set in, a terrible infection that had left me largely bedridden. I had managed to get by with the help of my neighbors, their kindness taking the form of the occasional load of washing or tuperware container of food. However, try as I might the illness had continued to burn though me as my fever refused to break. Delirious, having been forced awake for days at a time, I was at my breaking point.

In that moment my panicked and slipping mind had turned to some other means to make myself well once again, my deranged thoughts turning to the small box I had once collected within my old desk.

Candles, chalk, and strips of papyrus sat within the small shoebox, a series of scanned pages sitting atop it all with a series of poorly written notes and attempted translations from the books the ancient words had been ripped from. It had spoken of 'Becoming Better' from what my mind could vaguely remember, though it was at a great cost. Be it something metaphysical or placebo, I simply had lost all care by this point.

Using a piece of chalk I try to nudge tone of the rivulets of wax towards the chalk line surrounding it, the blood red substance hardening almost as fast as I can manipulate it.

"Come the fuck..." I hack, coughing into the crook of my arm as to try to shield the flicking wicks from going out. "I need to get... get better... or..." I wheeze, trying once again to blend the wax and the chalk. "Get Reborn or.. or..."

The Body Shop - Part Three

With a loud gasp I come to, my eyes snapping open as the dim light of the store and the relative darkness of the stairwell I had fallen in is replaced with harsh shafts of morning light streaming in through somewhere nearby.

My head sits partway up, a soft downy pillow or three beneath me providing more than enough support. Despite being able to feel the cushioned pillows behind my head I find myself struggling to make out much more below the neck. Despite the hazy and numbed state of my body I can still feel it shift and, the low slumbering breathes being forced through my lips and my head shifting with each deep inhale and exhale.

Blinking rapidly I try to clear my vision, my sleep filled eyes begging to be rubbed clean of the gunk from what was apparently a long nights sleep. As the bleary and blurred sight of the room slowly comes into focus I find myself shivering beneath the sheets in some strange apartment as rain pelts down heavily outside.

The sound of the heavy rain hammering the thin panes of glass rumbles throughout the room, the near all-encompassing noise leaving me with a building panic. My apartment was never this loud, the thick walls and the numerous floors above me shielding me from much of the noise from outside. As my eyes adapt to the light of the room I quickly find myself staring at an unfamiliar wall covered in white plaster and a small bedside table, the phone buzzing on the tabletop emanating a blinding light I had mistaken for sunshine.

Form Fitter - Part One

Walking back towards my apartment I can't help but shudder with each swing of my arm, the small box grasped in my clammy hand rattling slightly at the end of each arch. I try to shake the thought of just what was rattling around inside the palm sized box from my mind, instead focusing on the warm sunny rays bearing down on me and the scent of the rain baking off of the sidewalk.

"Wait..." I mutter under my breath, my hopes of not thinking about the little gift I ad been given falling apart almost immediately. "What would they do to me if I enjoyed the sun like this? Tan me?" I mutter, looking down at the plain white plastic case.

As I cross the street I raise the box up, bringing it closer to my face as I turn it in my hands. With each spin I don't find much in the way of instructions or any useful information, the only words on printed on the plain white surface simply reading.

Standard Form Fitter

One Week Dosage

Re:The Body Shop - Part Three

"I'm certain I have some more you may be interested in around here somewhere" the owner mutters, glancing around at the many shuffling bodies and busy assistants racing around the long and narrow storefront. With a shrug of her shoulders she glances back down to me.

"So valued customer, do you have any thoughts?" the witch coos softly, wincing slightly as her dim valley girl voice appears to irk her more so than the constant twitching and fidgeting of the stolen young body beneath her mature-aged head.

Glancing around I try to gather my thoughts, my limited range of motion making it extremely difficult to really assess any of my options. I'm mostly left looking over 'Gym Bunny', the nervous looking fit young woman pushing her chest out slightly as her bright white running shoes shift with her feet as they practically begin to wear through the floorboards beneath her.

The sound of the 'Exotic E-Girl' scrambling to escape the clutches of a set of assistants echos through the store, the cracking noise of open hands capping against bare skin and the low thuds of leather boot against shin sends shivers down my non-existent spine.

Glancing up at the witch she narrows her gaze at me, her lips pursing and wriggling a little as she seemingly tries to read my thoughts.

"My apologies" she huffs, shrugging her stolen shoulders "I don't have any other male bodies, at least not in your price range. I may have a few in the three or four out of ten shelves, how do you feel about forty-year olds with... what do they call it these days?... Dad... Bod?"

My eyes go wide as I look back at Bunny, the young woman 's hands wringing against each other as the sound of her squeaking gloves slip out from behind her.

"Or..." the old woman muses, looking up to the tall shelves lining the walls of the shop. "I could put you in storage for now, I'm sure a body more to your taste will be by in... oh... maybe a few months. You'll be fine up there, trust me, I haven't heard any of them complain yet."

Re:The Body Shop - Part Two

With a snap of her fingers her face brightens up, her eyes going wide as if struck by an epiphany.

"That's it!" she calls out, her fingers clicking over and over as she points towards a distant rack with her other hand. "That one! Yes yes to the left, you can hoist him up... Oh..." she states, pausing for a moment before looking back to me.

"Sorry, just realized where to stock that old body of yours" sh explains, waltzing towards me as I feel myself slowly get placed back down atop one of the many wooden boxes stacked around the storefront. She looks away from a second, giving a nod to one of her many helpers before musing to herself once more.

Musing for a moment, poking and prodding at the inside of her mouth with her tongue in thought, the witch finally pipes up to announce "I'd say your trade-in is...a... Eight out of Ten." With a loud thud I listen as a series of foot falls suddenly turn face, the bodies that had been dragging my old frame away suddenly stopping before shuffling closer towards the front of the shop.

"Oh don't be such drama queens" the witch sighs, rolling her eyes as her helpers move towards us. "Tall and hung, those are definitely worth something. He's also not that old, and... well we simply don't get much male stock coming through."

I stare up at the witch for a moment, my mouth falling open as my lips move without a single word. Catching the movement the older woman glances over to me, shrugging her shoulders a little as I hear a curtain begin to be drawn back.

"I would be pleased to be considered a rarity" she cackles, glancing up towards one of the more seemingly intelligent bodies before pointing towards me. "I mean otherwise I'd be giving you something closer to a four or five, instead you're getting something..."